New Descendants At Auradon Prep
by Emersonian
Summary: Six new kids from the Isle of the Lost have come to Auradon Prep in order to redeem as well. While they deal with the surrounding prejudice and their parents' expectations, Lonnie also has to deal with Shan Yu's daughter Haya. Meanwhile, something wicked is happening on the Isle Of the Lost and its wicked kids are sure that one of them is to blame as the Villains Comet approaches.
1. New Villains At Auradon Prep

Chapter 1: New Villains At Auradon Prep

Lonnie was excited to go back to school after Auradon Prep. Three months of summer vacation flew by very quickly indeed, but they were enjoyable. She and her parents had taken her to their old military camp, which became a martial arts summer camp ever since the former King Adam created the United States of Auradon. Now Lonnie had enhanced her martial skills and couldn't wait to show it to her friends back at Auradon Prep.

But today she was super excited, for the school was expecting new kids from the Isle of the Lost. A few months before the summer holidays, the crown prince, now king, Ben had passed a decree declaring that the children of all the villains locked up on the Isle should be given a chance to live in Auradon along with the children of heroes and be able to redeem themselves. After the success it had on Mal, Jay, Evie, and Carlos, the children of Maleficent, Jafar, the Evil Queen, and Cruella De Vil, Ben decided to bring more from the Isle. The only difference is that this time, six would come and it would be the inhabitants of the Isle who chose the candidates. Since Lonnie was great friends with Mal and Evie, she was sure that she'd get along.

As soon as she arrived at Auradon Prep around 8am, she quickly dashed to her usual dorm and threw her stuff there so that she could join the others out in front of the school. The band was ready as she joined Ben, Mal, Jay, Audrey, Evie, Doug, Carlos, Jane, and Fairy Godmother in order to welcome the newcomers.

Finally, they saw it: two SUV vans approached and the school band started playing.

"You gave them vans to ride on?" Mal asked Ben in a puzzled voice. "Why didn't you provide them a limo like you did with us?"

"Because they're were only four and there are six of them. Plus, their parents requested extra transportation for their belongings and their pets," Ben explained.

"Pets?" Carlos suddenly sounded nervous. "Oh, no. I can already guess who's coming."

The vans stopped in front of the group and everyone watched as the newcomers came out one by one. The first was a boy around Jay's age, only much taller and muscular. His head was shaven and the only hair he had left was tied up into four locks. He wore a purple T-Shirt with the logo of Dragon Hall, the school that the villains' kids go to back on the Isle of the Lost, a red belt, grey pants, and red-and-yellow boots and gloves. Attached on his left leg was a hunting knife. Lonnie saw a few girls among the crowd who swooned at the sight of the boy's icy blue eyes, stocky muscles, and dashing smirk.

"That's Gabriel Legume," Jay whispered. "He's the son of Gaston. Be careful when you're around him, especially you Ben."

Lonnie suddenly felt nervous for Ben. Gaston was once a handsome, strong hunter who was seen as a hero despite his narcissism and sexism and whose main villainous motivation was to marry Ben's mother, Belle, mainly for her looks even if he had to kill the Beast out of pure jealousy. She hoped that Gaston's villainy hadn't rotted within Gabriel too.

The second one to come out was a scrawny boy around Carlos' age, only with unusual gray hair, dressed in a brown shirt with red buttons and stripes at the sleeves' edges. The clasp of his maroon belt was shaped like a purple 'F' and his black shorts had red on the edges. He also wore purple handcuff bracelets, one red ring, purple socks, and black medieval-styled shoes. On his head sat a purple baseball cap attached on the end. He carried a dagger and a large photography camera with him. The boy was seen jumping on Gabriel and pushing him, causing the latter to fall on the face in front of everyone.

"Score!" the boy mocked as he took his camera and took a picture of Gabriel's butt. To Lonnie's surprise, a fully printed newspaper came out of the camera, headlines, pictures, text, etc. "Looks like on today's UNHOLY GAZETTE edition, the main headlines are "LEGUME GETS HUMILIATED IN FRONT OF AURADON!"

"Wait until I screw you, runt," Gabriel muttered.

"That's Charles Frollo," Carlos whispered. "He's the son of Judge Frollo and he ran a gossip studio back on the Isle called THE UNHOLY GAZETTE. He's not too bad, but he'll go crazy when he sees a hot girl and he and Gabriel fight a lot despite the fact that they're best friends."

Lonnie grew even more nervous at the mention of Charles' father. Her grandfather told her when she was little that the evil minister had a reputation for believing he was a holy man despite attempting to drown a deformed baby in a well and almost burning an entire city just because he wanted to find a gypsy he had a crush on. Now Lonnie didn't feel so sure about the new kids.

The third to come out was another boy, only he had Middle Eastern skin like Jay's and he was dressed in Egyptian attire from the haircut all the way to the sandals. When he saw the way Charles and Gabriel were behaving in front of everyone, he sighed in disbelief.

"That's Xaos Sethson," Mal told the group. "He's actually the demigod son of the evil Egyptian god Seth. He's can be impulsive and arrogant at times, but he's OK to hang out with."

"They lock up gods on the Isle too?" Audrey asked Mal curiously.

"No. Gods are too powerful to be locked up on the Isle. Xaos' dad and the other evil gods were sent to a special prison in Tartarus."

"Are we going to have any girls at all?" Jane asked as she clung on to Carlos.

"We should, since Xaos doesn't go anywhere without his gang."

Right when Mal said that, Xaos reached out his hand to the passenger door of the SUV and a feminine hand grabbed his. Everyone finally saw the first villainous girl to come out of the van. She was tall, slender, and had an hourglass figure. She did look lovely with her peach skin, green eyes, red lips, and grayish black hair attached into a Nordic hairstyle. She wore a blue Viking wolf necklace around her neck, Scandinavian loop earrings, and twisted bracelet on her right wrist. She had a lot of Nordic themed symbols on her: a triquetra on her green purse, her brown Norwegian belt, and the blue heels of her knee-high blue-and-green boots. Blue runes were imprinted on her green pants. Only her dark green shirt was simple.

"That's Kory Lokisia," Mal said. "Her dad's the god of mischief Loki. She and Xaos are childhood friends…and they're dating."

"Easy to tell with the way they're holding hands," Audrey nodded.

Kory smiled at her boyfriend as she got out of the van. When she saw the two previous boys tackling each other, she asked Xaos in a disgusted voice: "Out of all the other boys on the Isle, why did we have to bring these loonies?"

"Trust me, sweetie, we couldn't do anything," Xaos said. "Their dads publicly insisted."

"French villains are crazy." Lonnie silently smirked at Kory's last remark. She hoped that she and the latter would get along quite well.

Then came out another girl, only this time all the boys, minus the group and the new villains, gawked. She had light skin and dazzling, long locks of blond and orange hair. Her cyan eyes and red lips gave a nice, friendly smile, which Lonnie hadn't seen so far among the new kids. She wore a dark blue shirt with silver sparkles, a brown belt, a green Scottish kilt skirt, small, grey fingerless gloves, and red knee-high heel boots. She carried a beige tiara with a green opal, a green pendant necklace, and a simple, but sparkly tiara with a green gen and two blue ones on the center. Lonnie watched as the girl went to their SUV's driver and gave him a dollar bill as a tip.

"That's Macy Beth. Her parents are the Macbeths but she's very sweet," Evie said. She gave a quick wave to Macy when the latter returned from a giving the tip to the driver; Macy gave Evie a warm smile as she returned the friendly wave. Lonnie stared in disbelief. She heard the stories of how Macbeth went insane after three witches predicted that he'd become king and he killed his own cousin the king, destroyed the lives of others and caused war just so that he could defy fate and remain king. His wife, Lady Macbeth, was worse since her merciless mind pushed her husband to murder and lose all human compassion just so that they could become royalty. Everyone was lucky when Ben's parents had the Macbeths arrested and banished to the Isle of the Lost for their crimes. Still, Lonnie couldn't believe that a sweet girl like Macy could be the child of power-hungry tyrants like the Macbeths.

Finally, the last villainous kid came out of the van. It was a tall, slender girl who was around Lonnie's age, with dark grey skin and golden eyes. Her long raven hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she had a curved bang on the right side of her head, with orange dyed stripes. She wore a tank top and minishorts that were both half-black and half-cream colored. Her belt was sickly green. Her right boot was cream colored while the other was black. Animal pelts covered her shoulders and the top edges of her boots. She had only one cream-colored glove on her left hand. The only jewelry she had was an orange-feathered necklace, a green handcuff bracelet on her right arm and an orange pearl bracelet on the other. On her back hung a greyish guitar with the headstock shaped like a falcon. She had a serious look on her face and when the other newcomers saw her, they straightened themselves up, probably knowing that she meant business.

Jay quickly whispered to Lonnie. "Lonnie, you're gonna have to be careful when you're around her."

"Why? Who is she?"

"That's Haya Yu. She's tough and lots of kids back in Dragon Hall relied on her for leadership. Plus, I don't think she'd take you well since your mom buried her dad's army under an avalanche and tried to knock him off a rooftop with a firework rocket."

Lonnie froze at the mentions of her mother. "My mom?" She then glanced at Haya and then it her.

Shan Yu. Haya's father was Shan Yu, the Hun leader who tried conquering China years ago.


	2. Lonnie's New Roommate

Chapter 2: Lonnie's New Roommate

"Welcome to Auradon Prep! Where good doesn't get any better!" Fairy Godmother warmly told the newcomers. "I am the Headmistress of this school, the Fairy Godmother."

Charles Frollo ducked in fright behind Gabriel Legume at the mention of the Headmistress's name. Everyone looked in curiosity as Gaston's son annoyingly tried to pull the scrawny boy away from him.

"Is he alright?" Doug asked in a concerned voice.

"Sorry. His father… kind of told him that fairies would give him nightmares while he slept if he didn't behave," Macy Beth politely told the hosts. "Thank you though for your kind hospitality, Headmistress."

"Of course." Fairy Godmother said kindly. "You are the second group to be given the great opportunity of living in Auradon, the kingdom of goodness. Your peers Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos have been the first success." She motioned to the ex-villainous kids. Lonnie saw that they gave uneasy smiles to the newcomers; Haya Yu barely smiled at all, Kory Lokisia and Xaos Sethson seemed to be struggling to give them ' _Good-to-see-you-again!_ ' looks. Gabriel Legume's open teeth grin didn't go well with his frowning eyebrows and Charles Frollo slightly bowed his head. Only Macy Beth gave a warm smile to her former villainous peers; the same smile that she gave to Evie.

 _Seriously_ , Lonnie thought. _Is this really the daughter of the Macbeths_?

"Well, I'll leave the touring to Ben and Mal," Fairy Godmother. "I'll see you six tomorrow in Redemptial Goodness class. And welcome again to Auradon!"

"Thanks, that will be swell," Charles Frollo said, only for his voice to falter as he finished that sentence.

As Fairy Godmother, the band and rest of the school faculty and students left, the 9 Auradon hosts (Ben, Mal, Evie, Jay, Audrey, Doug, Jane, Carlos, and Lonnie) and the newcomers were the only ones remaining.

"So, I hope you had a good trip," Carlos said.

"Sure, it was a good trip," Haya Yu said sarcastically. It's the first time she spoke so far and her stern voice made most of the group cringe. "If you don't include the part where we nearly got a heart attack when we almost thought we we're going to fall towards our doom when the barrier opened."

"Don't be so dramatic, Haya," Macy Beth said gently. "It wasn't so bad. It almost felt like flying."

Some kids of the group laughed at the last part Macy Beth said. Lonnie even noticed that, despite her effort to hide laughter, Haya Yu barely smirked.

"We sincerely hope that you enjoy your stay here," Ben said. "There will be someone to bring your luggage to your dorms. As for your pets…"

"OH MY GOD! I forgot McPrince is in the van!" Macy Beth suddenly panicked. "Would it be possible for me to get him out of the van now? He can get sick from being contained in closed quarters for too long!"

Mal gave a look at Ben, who approved Macy Beth's request. The latter ran in a panic towards the van while one of the drivers was unloading the belongings of the newcomers into pushing carts. A few of them were large cases for heavy equipment, to Lonnie's eyes.

"Relax, Macy" Xaos Sethson said. "It's not like your pet's gonna throw up or something."

"AAAH!"

Everyone turned to the driver run in circles; only he had vomit on his face. "Help! I can't see!" Jane went to give him a tissue to wipe off the green ooze from his face. She slightly cringed in disgust.

"I told you McPrince would get sick." Macy Beth said. Lonnie, along with Doug and Jane stepped back when they a bear cub with a gem collar around its neck cuddling in Macy Beth's arm. It made a bear whine as the Scottish princess used a tissue to wipe off the vomit from its mouth. "Mommy's little baby got sick from the mean van?"

"You have a pet bear?" Doug asked nervously.

"McPrince was a birthday gift given by my father. He's actually one of the bear cubs of Mord'u."

One by one, the rest of the newcomers (except Charles Frollo) went to fetch their pets: Gabriel got his ferocious Doberman Pinscher Rufus (one of the puppies of Bill Sykes' dogs). Xaos went to get his glassed-cased scorpion Serket. Kory went to fetch her leashed gray wolf Carmine and Haya fetched her peregrine falcon Havak (actually one of the chicks of her father's pet falcon, Hayabusa).

As the group walked around the school, showing the gardens, the classrooms, and the morphing statue of Ben's father, Ben then mentioned that two of the newcomers would have to share a dorm with two current students at Auradon Prep. One boy and one girl would have to step in.

"So who wants to volunteer?" Jay asked. The newcomers looked at each other in an uneasy way.

"I volunteer," Xaos Sethson said much to the surprise of everyone. "No way I share a room with those French boys."

"Your scorpion nearly got Rufus sick," Gabriel Legume snorted.

"Whatever."

"I volunteer as well," Kory Lokisia joined her boyfriend. "Carmine and Havak barely get along. Plus, Macy and Haya are closer friends."

"You're so sacrificial," Haya smirked.

"Thanks," Macy thanked.

"So it's settled." Ben clasped his hands. "Doug and Lonnie will be your roommates. Is that all right with you?"

"Sure," Doug nodded. Lonnie gave the same response.

Everyone went to their dorms, with Xaos following Doug and Kory following Lonnie.

 _Time skip_

"Here's our dorm." Lonnie opened the door and lead Kory and Carmine inside their dorm room. "I know the pinkness for the girls' room looks tacky, but I haven't gotten a chance to redecorate."

Kory gave a slight glance and merely shrugged. "At least it's bigger than my old room back on the Isle." She put her belongings on the floor and the girls began unloading their stuff. Lonnie replaced the bright pink curtains on her side of the room with magenta ones with green leaf patterns. As she hung up her curtains, she noticed that Kory was replacing her side's curtains with dark green ones with runes imprinted on them.

"Your curtains look interesting," Lonnie said genuinely.

Kory looked at Lonnie in surprise. Was she not expecting a compliment from a hero's child to a villain's child?

"Uh, thanks?"

"I hope I didn't say anything offensive…" Lonnie started to say nervously.

"No, no, no! You didn't!" Kory went through her stuff and pulled out a bunch of things out of her luggage and put them on her bed. "I just…wasn't expecting a good comment from around here so soon."

"If you're worried about people thinking the worst of you, don't worry. They'll soon see that you aren't horrible." Lonnie started hanging posters of her favorite hip hop artist Melody, the daughter of Ariel, and of Lonnie's mother, Mulan, in her action pose and the exploding words GENDER DOESN'T MATTER WHEN IT COMES TO COURAGE on the top.

"Your mom's Mulan? The girl who dressed up as a soldier?" Kory asked as she placed a grey cushion dog's couch for Carmine at the side of her bed. The gray wolf immediately jumped on it and made itself comfortable.

"The poster sells it?" Lonnie turned to look at the daughter of Loki.

"Yes and no. I also heard Jay whispering to you about your mom's rivalry with Haya's dad and I saw your reaction when you figured out that Haya was Shan Yu's daughter."

Lonnie sighed when she knew that Kory was right. She left her now hung posters and sat on her bed with her head bending down. "She probably doesn't like me for what my mom did to her dad."

Kory went to sit next to Lonnie and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Haya isn't all terrible, you know. She's just trying to keep her Hun pride and dignity. Her dad does respect your mom for being a worthy opponent, but back on the Isle most people mock behind his back for being defeated by a…girl like your mom. Hun dignity and respect towards worthy adversaries are very important to him, Haya, and their clan. Haya's only tries to keep her Hun composure, but she can be friendly when you get to know her. Don't worry about her too much, OK?"

Lonnie smiled at Kory. "OK."

The demigod returned the smile and turned her gaze to Lonnie's posters. "You like music?"

"I do. Hip hop is one of my favorites."

"Then you are gonna love this." Kory went to one of her luggage; it was one of the large cases that Lonnie had seen earlier at the vans. Kory opened it from the sides and pulled out an electric keyboard.

"You play music?" Lonnie's face brightened as Kory settled her keyboard near her side's window.

"Yep. Back on the Isle, Haya, Xaos, Macy, and I were a band called the Dark Rulers." Kory took a scrolled paper from her bed and unrolled it, showing a concert poster of the four mentioned villainous kids dressed in black and playing at a concert in front of a cheering crowd. Xaos was depicted playing drums while Kory was with her keyboard, and Macy and Haya were playing with guitars. "We all have a specific instrument except Macy. She plays guitar, piano, and bagpipes. Plus, she's our group's main songwriter. Her lyrics are like magic!"

"You think your group will be able to play sometime in Auradon Prep? I bet your music's awesome!"

Kory uneasily shrugged as she hung up the poster. "I don't know, Lonnie. Our music mostly mentions things about being villains; I don't think people around here would like it. Plus, who knows if they'll let villains like us play music here?"

"Hey," Lonnie reassured her. "If Jay and Carlos can play Tourney and Evie can be a fashion designer and Mal can date the current king of Auradon, then nobody can prevent you from playing your music around here."

Kory smiled at the daughter of Mulan. "Thanks Lonnie…for your kindness."

And as they reorganized their dorm room, a friendship immediately blossomed.


	3. The Judge's Son Meets The Gypsy Princess

Chapter 3: The Judge's Son Meets The Gypsy Princess

When Ben went to check on the new students from the Isle after their first two morning classes, he couldn't help but notice that they looked as if they'd gone through torture. He knew, of course, that it would take a while for the villainous kids to adapt to the goodness-filled environment of Auradon, but while Mal and the others were able to disguise their initial intentions and disgust, the six new transfers definitely had no problem showing how they were struggling. When he and Mal went to check on them after they had Redemptial Goodness with Fairy Godmother, Haya Yu looked like she wanted to throw up, Kory Lokisia and Xaos Sethson had the same look of horror in their eyes that Ben's mother, Belle, had when he and his parents watched a horror movie that his father had selected for Family Movie Night. Charles looked like he'd seen that provoked Christianity, due to the way he swore using religious terms.

"What the hellfire was that? Even my father wouldn't have taught me this blasphemy!"

Gabriel Legume (Ben tried his best to look at him despite him being the son of his parents' arch-nemesis) grumbled at the stupidity of the lessons: "You meet a beautiful young lady that you like. What do you do? Blackmail her to marry you or you throw her father in an asylum? Burn her at the stake if she refuses you? Or do you try to introduce yourself in a friendly way and gradually start a mutual relationship?' What the hell was that? No one treats a French villain like this! Fascists!"

Only Macy Beth seemed to not mind the Redemptial Goodness class. Ben was glad t see that at least one of them was showing enthusiasm so far at Auradon and tried to sooth her friends by saying it wasn't so bad and maybe the next classes would be better.

It was now 10 am and it was the 30-minute break time. Students went out to their lockers and the gardens to relax until it was time for class. Ben went to join Mal near the lockers, where Finius Macduff, the son of Macduff the Thane of Fife, accompanied them. Finius was a pretty cool guy that Ben knew since middle school but while Ben went to Auradon Prep, Finius went to Cumberland Academy, an expensive, Scottish high-class school located in the Cumberland Province of Auradon. The current king of Auradon was full of joy when he learned that his old friend had convinced his father Macduff that he would prefer to attend a public boarding school that wasn't just full of descendants of Scottish royalty and nobility.

Finius joined Ben at the lockers as the latter introduced the young thane to his girlfriend Mal, the daughter of Maleficent. Ben was very happy when he saw his old friend treating Mal with great respect despite the fact that she was from the Isle of the Lost and nearly stole a magic wand during Ben's coronation for her mother. As Finius asked curious questions about the lifestyle back on the Isle, Ben then noticed the six new kids. Haya Yu and Gabriel Legume were having a punching game where it seemed that Haya Yu kept winning. Ben felt bad that the daughter of Shan Yu couldn't attend the P.E class in second class due to most of the sports being for boys. When he'll get the occasion after school, Ben was planning to talk to Fairy Godmother in order to convince her to begin coed sports at Auradon so that everyone, including Haya, could participate in.

He then saw Kory Lokisia holding hands with her boyfriend Xaos Sethson as they chatted with Lonnie. During his first period of Grammar and Vocabulary, Lonnie had told him about how cool Kory was when they were settling in their dorm room and Ben was impressed that Lonnie had managed to befriend one of the villainous kids in less than an hour. He was also interested when Lonnie asked if perhaps Kory and her musical friends could perhaps have their own little studio in Auradon Prep where they could keep practicing their music. Ben promised that he'd make sure of it and added the request to his list.

Macy Beth was chatting with Evie in a very enthusiastic conversation. These two princesses born from evil rulers were both sweet girls who enjoyed their stay at Auradon so far, were efficient in their classes, and dated smart, supporting boys (Evie had Doug and from what Mal told Ben, Macy had a boyfriend back on the Isle named Manny Colchis who, unlike most of the other boys back on the Isle, liked the Scottish for who she was rather than her looks).

Ben got lost in his thoughts until Charles Frollo accidently bumped into him. The minister's son fell on his butt, along with a few library books.

"I'm sorry, Charles!" Ben exclaimed. "I didn't see you there!"

"Are you OK?" Finius helped Charles get up. Charles looked annoyed as he struggled to get up and put his baseball cap in place. Mal picked up Charles' library books and noticed that all of them were encyclopedias and charts discussing Auradon Prep's foundation from when it was still the Beast's castle.

"What are those books for, Charles?" she asked in a puzzled tone.

"I just want to find an isolated place to re-establish my UNHOLY GAZETTE studio," Charles said coldly as he snatched back the books nervously. "You know…to print my gossip."

"I'm sure Ben can find you a studio for your UNHOLY GAZETTE," Finius said to Charles, giving an encouraging look at Ben. "Isn't that right, Ben?"

"Well…" Ben hesitated, "I could talk about it to Fairy Godmother and see if she agrees. I do support the idea of starting a news media at school…"

"What sort of media do you use for your gossip?" Finius asked Charles curiously.

"Uh…back on the Isle, I used both television, radio, and newspaper in my studio," Charles explained. "My dad is mainly in charge of running propaganda and whatsoever in order to keep everyone on with the news and… his beliefs."

"Your studio was our main access to news in and out of the island," Mal added. "And your dad's camera is also very effective." She pointed at the camera around his neck. "It's a special type of camera that actually prints out a full newspaper. Why don't you show them, Charles?"

Charles nervously pulled the camera out from his neck and showed them the small screen behind the camera, which was accompanied by a small set of lettered and numbered buttons. Ben and Finius looked at it with curiosity, Finius especially.

"I take a picture with the camera, then I do a few tapings, like for the headlines, subtitles, text, and other poppycocks. For example." The small boy held up his camera and took a picture of Ben, Mal, and Finius, much to their surprise. Charles did a few quick taps on his camera and then, with a last _click,_ a fully printed newspaper came out. Charles took it and handed it to Finius first, who thoroughly read it, from the headlines 'UNHOLY GAZETTE: WILL KING BEN ACCORD A NEW STUDIO TO CHARLES FROLLO?' to the end of the paper.

"The text is very thorough in detail and full of emotion," Finius told Charles. "I especially like the realistic picture." He showed the picture of the trio to the others. Indeed, it looked realistic. "I definitely support the idea, Charles. You should get a studio here in Auradon Prep."

Before Charles could respond after his shy smile, a loud banging chorus was heard from the gardens.

Everyone looked to see a bunch of students banging on upside down trash cans and playing with tambourines. Unlike most of the reserved, uniform like outfits of most of the students at Auradon, minus the newcomers, these kids wore tie-dyed tank tops, tattered jeans, colorful headbands, and sandals. Their lively music actually attracted many of their viewers.

"Haya! Check it! Musicians!" Macy cried excitedly as the villainous musicians rushed to the rail and watched with eager as the students played.

"Hey! I know them!" Lonnie said. "They're the Gypsy Nomads, a bunch of gypsy students who switch schools every year. I saw them play music in my hometown once."

"Ugh. Gypsies," Charles snorted in disgust. Ben briefly forgot that Judge Frollo had an insane, racist view towards gypsies during his reign of terror in Paris. Good thing he heard Charles' comment to remember that.

"You know, Charles…" he began saying. A loud squeal from Lonnie then cut him off.

"LOOK! IT'S GITANE TROUILLEFOU!"

Charles and Ben turned to see one of the gypsy students stand out among her peers: a girl who was around fifteen-years-old, dressed in a white tank top, tie-dyed jeans, flip-flops, and an assortment of golden bracelets, loop earrings, multicolored rings, and a purple headband. A tattoo of a jester was on her right arm. Her only makeup was purple eyeshadow and magenta lipstick that matched her sunburn skin. The girl began to start a rapping song, followed by a gypsy choir that caused loud cheers around her.

 _It's a crazy world I'm livin (Choir: Livin)_

 _How should I know where I'm turnin? (Choir: Turnin)_

 _It's a world full of topsy-turvy_

 _And things are getting curvy._

 _Who knows who we are, well, let me tell ya._

 _We are the Gypsy Nomads; we rock music. (Choir: Oh, yeah!)_

 _My name's Gitane and soon you'll know y'all._

 _My dad's Clopin the Gypsy King and he's fantastic._

 _We've all got a sayin for what we wanna be._

 _Let's be who we choose to be. (Choir: Choose to be)_

Students cheered as Gitane sang. Ben couldn't believe it: the infamous Clopin Trouillefou, the Gypsy King of the Court of Miracles, had a daughter attending Auradon Prep. This was bound to be a cool year. When he turned to look at the others, he saw that Charles was struggling to not blush. Ben guessed that Charles found Gitane attractive, the same way his father crushed on Esmeralda as soon as he met her.

Then, out of nowhere, Haya jumped out of the locker platform and grabbed her guitar, playing a rock tune that matched the rhythm and tune of the Gypsy Nomads. People were amazed by the amazing tune that Haya was making; even Gitane seemed to like it. Xaos, Macy, and Kory joined in. Things got awesome as Xaos introduced his wicked beat to the new rhythm.

Gitane: _We're unique in our way. Like I told you, we've got a say._

Macy and Kory: _Turn that wicked beat. We've got a say and we bring on the heat._

Gitane: _It's a big family between you and me._

 _We're all a part of it as we wanna be._

 _DNA doesn't justify things._

 _It's time we cut those strings._

Dark Rulers: _No strings can hold us back._

 _Our lives are all in the same shack._

 _We might be rotten, but here's a fact:_

 _The past should be forgotten 'cause were one pack._

Gitane & Dark Rulers:

 _We're unique in our own way. Like we told you, we've got a say._

Everyone applauded and cheered as the Gypsy Nomads and the Dark Rulers bowed to each other in respect. Ben, Mal, Finius, Charles, and Gabriel went to join the others as compliments were shared.

"You guys were awesome!" Gitane said.

"Thanks! So were you," Macy returned. She held out her hand. "I'm Macy Beth. My parents are the Macbeths and my friends and are I come from the Isle of the Lost."

"Your dad's Macbeth! Like _the_ Macbeth? The same guy who killed his cousin and became king? Awesome!" Gitane shook hands with Macy. "My dad and I used to get Scottish gypsies at the Court of Miracles every Christmas and they'd sing songs about your dad. I love Scottish bagpipes."

"You don't mind the fact that her dad was a bloody murderer?" Haya asked curiously.

"Why not? To me, villains are like gypsies: mistreated and isolated from society due to prejudice. So I like to think that we have things in common."

"That's pretty cool of you, Gitane," Ben said with a smile.

Gitane curtsied. "My pleasure, your Majesty." She gave a few looks at the new villainous kids. "Let's see. Dreadlock baldy with the big muscles must be Gaston's boy." Xaos snickered as Gabriel went over his mostly baldhead. "Snicky in the Egyptian attire must be the demigod son of Seth."

" _Snicky?_ " Xaos choked in disbelief.

"How cute. I think I'll call you by that," Kory teased her boyfriend as she played with his cheek, who couldn't help but feel both uncomfortable and amused.

"The Nordic themed girl must be Loki's daughter. I already know Macy. And the gothic girl with fur and guitar must be Shan Yu's kid. It's nice to meet you all."

"Same here," Xaos said.

Gitane leaned down closer in order to look at Charles face-to-face. Being a few inches apart made Charles very uncomfortable and blush too much. Ben could tell that Charles was reliving the same experience that his father had when he met Esmeralda at the Festival of Fools.

"I can tell your French, but I'm not sure who you are," Gitane said with a questioning tone.

"My name's just Charles," the boy said nervously.

"Oh! I get it!" Gitane teasingly tapped Charles' nose with an index finger. "You're the son of Frollo! Since you said you were just."

"What? That's not what I meant…I meant that people only call me Charles."

"Sure, Charlesy." She tapped his nose again. "Well, I hope to see you guys around." She left, waving at the other kids and giving a flirty one to Charles, who looked like he was trying to slap himself back to reality.


	4. Haya Pukes In Class

Chapter 4: Haya Pukes In Class

After the thirty minute morning break, Lonnie went to the one class she wished she didn't have to take for one hour and half until lunch break: Auradon History. It's not that she didn't think that the history of the United States of Auradon was interesting at all, but the fact that she heard the same history year after year was what irritated her. At least, on the bright side, she'd get to sit with Kory and Xaos at the same table. The bad side was that the teacher had assigned permanent seats for all the students, so Lonnie and her friends were stuck in the front. The obvious guess would be that the teacher didn't exactly trust the new villainous kids.

The neutral side was that, while Kory sat on Lonnie's right side, Haya sat on the left side.

So far, Lonnie still hadn't gotten the chance to interact with Haya. Although Kory told her that it would take time for Haya to get used to her before they could become friends, Lonnie still felt unsure. It did seem silly of her to fear a new student, even if he or she came from the Isle of the Lost, and assume that they can't be friends. After all, Lonnie had been friends with Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos ever since they first met; they even did friends-night-out when they would make cookies in the kitchen, go to the movie theaters, and whatsoever. But it was probably different because their villainous parents had no connection with Lonnie's mother, Mulan. Last year, for instance, Mal and Audrey barely got along because Audrey's mother was cursed by Maleficent and her dad defeated Maleficent; the feud between the parents was passed as a grudge between the girls (thank God they became friends after Ben's coronation). So who new what would happen between Lonnie and Haya?

"All right, class." The students turned to look at the teacher, who was new as Lonnie noticed. Hopefully, he would be better than the previous Auradon History teacher, Mr. Winsome. "I am Mr. Roger and I will be your new Auradon History. Usually, I like to make the first day of school a good start and one of my ways is to talk about my heritage and myself. So, who would like to go first?"

There were murmurs approving of the idea, but many didn't like the idea of going first.

"I would like to talk about mine! It's very fascinating and beyond comparison!" A girl rose among the middle row. Her hazel hair was tied up into a clean bun with a ponytail coming from behind. She wore a red spencer over her perky pinky dress and golden heeled-sandals. Her head was decorated with golden jewelry, especially a golden tiara that stood out like a poodle wanting to show off.

"Sure, why not?" Mr. Roger said as he motioned the girl to come in front of the board. "And you are?"

"The name's Eleanor Malcolm," the girl said in a bragging tone as she curtsied in front of the class. "My father is King Malcolm of Scotland. My grandfather was Duncan and a king of Scotland until his treacherous relative Macbeth killed him while he slept and took over the throne, forcing my father and uncle Donalbain to flee. Unlike the Macbeths, _my_ family and I are true royals!"

Kory elbowed at Lonnie. The latter looked to see Kory unsuspectingly passing a sheet of paper on the table. Making sure that Mr. Roger didn't see anything, she looked at it.

 _Xaos: Bummer. I should have thought of asking for one of Maleficent's sleeping curses for my birthday. Because I'd rather be cursed to sleep than listen to another princess story._

 _Kory: I'm used to hearing people brag back on the Isle, especially Gabriel and Hannah, but this is ridiculous. Lonnie, please tell me this isn't how heroes educate their kids here in Auradon. P.S: This is a back-and-forth passing conversation. Once you are done passing this, pass it to Haya._

Lonnie looked at Kory, who gave her an encouraging smile. Finally, Lonnie took a deep breath, grabbed her favorite blue pen and wrote her comment.

 _Lonnie: It happens that a few people like to brag about themselves because they defeated a villain who's now stuck on the Isle. Plus, some people are just too prejudiced. Don't get me started with how Chad Charming and Audrey behaved last year. P.S: Who's Hannah?_

Once she was done, Lonnie quietly passed the paper underneath Haya's nose. The Hun girl looked at Lonnie with fierce confusion, which made the poor girl tremble. Finally, Haya looked at the paper and smirked before writing something down with her quill. She passed it back to Lonnie.

 _Haya: Right back at ya, sister. I'd bet on Havak's leftovers that Eleanor would get a world record for Miss Cynical. P.S: Hannah, fully named Hannah South, is the daughter of Prince Hans. Believe me, she's just as obnoxious as this Scottish perky doll. Think they might be related?_

Lonnie managed to hold back a laugh; her smirking face still managed to get a grin back from Haya. When Xaos and Kory saw the comment as well, they had the same reaction.

"Well…uh, Eleanor," Mr. Roger hesitantly said. "It was a very interesting summary of your family's history, but it didn't have to take half-of class. Would anybody else like to share his or her story?"

"No need to waste time, Mr. Roger," Eleanor insisted. "There's no story that can equal mine." She shot a nasty look at Lonnie's table, especially towards her three classmates, which meant pride and disgust about their presence.

"Indeed not, Eleanor, but rudeness does equal with a trip to the Headmistress' office. Now back to your seat," Mr. Roger said sternly. The Scottish spoiled back paraded her way back to her spot. Mr. Roger scanned the room and his eyes landed on Kory. "Why don't you come and tell us about yourself?"

Kory suddenly stiffened as Mr. Roger spoke to her. "Wait…m-me?"

Mr. Roger gave an encouraging nod. "Why not? It would be interesting to hear from somebody who comes from a different background than any of us."

"Oh, m-my life has nothing interesting to talk about," Kory said as she was nervously was trying to get herself out of this situation. But the teacher didn't budge: he motioned her to come forward. Lonnie watched as her friend rose from her chair, making sure she got a warm hand squeeze from Xaos before she got up, and walked towards the board. Eyes were looking at her. Eleanor looked like she was predicting that this class would end badly.

"So, tell us a few things about yourself and your life back on the Isle of the Lost," Mr. Roger said with a smile.

Kory nervously fidgeted her fingers. "Well…let's see. My dad's the god of mischief Loki. He tried to kill his brother Thor and take over Asgard. And because he courted my mom, a regular mortal who used to work in a coal factory, she and her entire family got locked on the Isle when Odin and Auradon's authorities found out she was pregnant with me."

"So your entire mortal family was found guilty just because your father had you with her?"

"If you put it that way, yes."

"They say your father and the other evil gods are locked up in a prison in Tartarus. Do you know if it's true?"

"It is. The barrier on the Isle is too weak to contain gods, so they put them in the one place they're too afraid to take action: Tartarus, the worst part of the Underworld. But I did get to visit my dad in his cell, sometimes."

"You could visit someone in the Underworld?" A student asked.

"Yeah." Kory talked a bit more confidently. "But only if you were related to the prisoners. I usually visit my dad on my birthdays or on his birthdays, but that's all. And he barely talks about how he's doing since he's got nothing to do in prison except eat and sleep. When I visit, he mostly asks how I'm misbehaving at school or if I've been tormenting my mortal family."

"Family pressures are tough for you, aren't they?" Mr. Roger told Kory as he listened with full curiosity.

"Yeah…"

Lonnie stopped paying attention to what Kory was saying when she saw a piece of paper appear under her nose. It had a comment on it.

 _Haya: Kory is usual a bit nervous to talk about her family in front of others. Believe me, if you've seen her household back on the Isle, you would know. P.S: Pass back._

Lonnie looked back at Haya, who pretended to not see her in order to avoid getting caught. Would it be possible that Haya wanted to be friends with Lonnie? Well, there was only one way to find out.

 _Lonnie: Why? She has a big family?_

 _Haya: Her mother, her grandparents, her great-grandfather, her six uncles, her four aunts, and twelve cousins. Include her, which makes 27 people._

 _Lonnie: 27 PEOPLE? God, that must leave barely enough space for her in her household._

 _Haya: Well, since she's a demigod, her family was provided with a big house back on the Isle. If you were a demigod born from one of the evil gods, like Xaos and Kory, you got a special house because you and your entire mortal family got involved with an evil god._

 _Lonnie: That doesn't sound fair._

 _Haya: Sister, nothing is fair in life except for the logical stuff. Is it fair that an entire family gets locked up in an island full of villains just because only one member slept with one god? No. Is it fair though that the demigod gets locked up on the Isle right after it's born? Yes, because you can be born evil. That's the way life is._

 _Lonnie: So… do you think it's fair or unfair that…your dad got…defeated by a girl?_

 _Haya: What do they teach you at Auradon? Gender doesn't matter between adversaries. It's equality in combat and skills that matter when it comes to worthy opponents._

 _Lonnie: So you think it's fair that Mulan defeated your dad?_

 _Haya: Yes and no. It's fair because Mulan was a worthy opponent and unfair because obviously she ruined his chances of domination and he got stuck on the Isle. Why do you ask?_

 _Lonnie: Uh…well…how to say this? Mulan…is my mom._

Lonnie saw Haya freezing as the latter read Lonnie's last comment. The Hun girl turned her head in a robotic matter in order to face Lonnie with eyes widening at the second. Her dark eyebrows were frowning as if they were in pain and her mouth was grimacing.

" _What_?" Haya's voice sounded deeper than usual, which made Lonnie cringe.

Haya's face suddenly started to become pale. She quickly covered her mouth with one hand as the other held on to her stomach.

"Haya, are you OK?" Kory stopped talking to the class as she noticed that her friend wasn't doing well. Everyone then looked at Haya, who was starting to wobble.

"Oh dear," Mr. Roger said. "I think someone should take her to the infirmary." It started worsening: Haya was dragging herself off her seat, now covering her mouth with both hands.

"OH, NO!" Xaos exclaimed as he stood up and rushed to Haya. "Not now, Haya! Now's not the right time to…"

Too late. Haya bended and a ghastly noise was heard, along with a nasty smell. Students became disgusted as they pinched their noses.

"…Puke," Kory sighed, finishing Xaos' sentence.

Lonnie slapped herself. _Great job, Li Fa Lonnie_ , she mentally scolded herself. _Great job._


	5. Charles Gets Stalked In The West Wing

Chapter 5: Charles Gets Stalked In The West Wing

Ben, Finius, and Charles had the period off before lunch break. After talking to Fairy Godmother and getting her approval for Charles to set his gossip studio in Auradon Prep, the boys headed to the western side of the school. Ben led them through a series of hallways and climbed up the largest staircase in the entire school until they reached the sixth floor, where they only found a large, wooden door with a metallic knob. A nearby sign said: "WARNING. THIS AREA IS RESTRICTED TO ALL PEOPLE WITHIN THE SCHOOL FACULTY AND STUDENT BODY. ACESS ONLY ALLOWED TO HEADMISTRESS FAIRY GODMOTHER AND THE AURADON MONARCHS."

"This is it, Charles," Ben said as he showed the doors to the judge's son. "This is where, with my permission, you will have your studio."

"A restricted area for everyone except me? Classic. I love it already," Charles grinned approvingly.

"I'm glad you like it. It's the West Wing."

"The West Wing? You mean the only section of your dad's castle that was forbidden to your mom because that's where he shut himself away as a beast?" Finius asked with excitement.

"Yeah. It's the only section in the entire castle that my dad didn't want to change when it became Auradon Prep. He wanted to be like an intact memory and sanctuary. As his son, I'm the only person besides Fairy Godmother who can come in. I've got my own, personal key." He pulled something out from his collar: a necklace with an attached golden key; the handle was a golden carving of a beast's head. Ben used the key to unlock the door. The door made a series of hollow creeks as it opened, revealing endless darkness.

"Well, as long as there are no hellish spirits here to disturb me, a dark area won't disturb me at all," Charles shrugged. Finius took out a flashlight and turned on the light in order to see their surroundings.

The wooden floor was still solid, but it made uneasy creeks whenever the boys made a step. Spiderwebs dangled from the ceiling like ghostly curtains above the cloth-covered furniture. Ahead of them stood a wooden staircase that led to a large platform with a giant window covered by a dark curtain that was threatening to dissolve into dust.

"That's the area where my dad kept the enchanted rose and his magic mirror," Ben said as they got up to the platform. "So what do you think, Charles?"

Charles kneeled down and surveyed the wooden floor. "Hm. The floor's stable enough to maintain a set of wires." He went to knock on the walls next and pressed his ears on it. "There seems to be enough electricity running through this room." He got up to inspect the covered window. "I usually use solar energy to charge my antenna. Why did I leave it in my room?" He grumbled.

"I'll go get it, if you want," Finius volunteered.

"Sure, why not?" Charles agreed. "My dorm is in the second floor of the boys' section, door 13. I put my antenna and the case with all my gear under my bed; it's the one with a dark, hand-made quilt. In order to avoid getting bitten by Gabriel's dog Rufus, use his favorite toy as bait. It looks like a voodoo doll of the Beast-don't take it personally, Ben- with cotton coming out of the sides."

"I shall face the danger with dignity!" Finius dramatized as he pounded his chest with a hand. He gave Ben the flashlight and marched away without any problem out of the West Wing, closing the door behind him and leaving Ben and Charles alone in the dark.

"So is there anything else you want to check?" Ben asked Charles.

"Well, I want to see what I can do about this horrid curtain. You think you can find an area that would be could for archiving my reports?"

"Sure. Wait here, I think I know just the place." Ben dashed somewhere in the dark chamber. All alone, Charles decided to examine the old curtain. It was rather dusty. Perhaps he could find something better to replace it with.

"Decorating the interior?" A teasing voice asked from above.

 _Please don't be God_ , Charles begged mentally as he raised his head. Out of the shadows came a lighted, scary face.

"AAAAAAAHHHH!" Charles screamed. He tripped, clinging on to the curtain during the process. The fabric ripped off from the ceiling, along with its conduit pipe, which happened to be the place where the owner from the face came from. A scream also followed and a body crash-landed directly onto Charles, practically nailing him flat to the ground. The floor hit the boy pretty hard on the back, which was the one area where he hated being touched.

"OUCH!" he groaned.

"I'm sorry, Charlesy! Are you OK?"

At the mention of the ridiculous name he got earlier, Charles looked at the person who'd fallen on top of him. It was none other than Gitane Trouillefou, the gypsy girl from earlier. Her long, jet-black curls were touching the sides of his jaw in a way that was both embarrassing, yet smooth for Charles. He nearly got distracted by her hazel eyes until he shocked his senses and roughly pushed her off him.

"GET OFF!" he snapped.

"Geez, relax." Gitane got up. She didn't seem very affected by Charles' rude attitude.

"What the hellfire is it with you breaking into my personal space? That's like the second time today." Charles complained as he painfully tried to get up. A pair of hands lifted him by the arms. He was surprised to see that Gitane was actually bothering to help him get up. After all, his father was the #1 nemesis of all gypsies.

"First off, it was an accident for once. Second off, the West Wing is my dorm," Gitane answered as he finally got up, only for her to dust off his shirt with her hands, much to Charles' annoyance. "And third off, you're just too adorable." The last part was said in a rather, sweet way.

"Well the running into each other is starting to annoy me. Don't forget our clans' feud." Charles yanked her hands away from him. "And the West Wing is supposed to be _my_ new territory. And…wait. What do you mean, _adorable_? **I AM NOT ADORABLE**!"

"Too late for that." Gitane retorted playfully, which caused the gray-haired boy to groan in exasperated disbelief.

"Is everything all right, Charles? I heard screaming," Ben rushed in. Since the window now projected natural light, there was no need to use the flashlight.

Ben looked confused at Gitane's sudden presence… especially with Charles.

"Gitane? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in class?"

"I was," Gitane shrugged. "But the Internet Safety teacher couldn't handle my gypsy attitude and style, so she suspended me from class. So I came to my dorm turf…which is here."

"What? But how on Auradon did you…"

"I climbed up the school towers. Believe me, it's no different than climbing Notre Dame in Paris, you know."

Charles slapped his face. "I'm being menaced by a gypsy who is both stalking and crazy…WHAT DOES THE WORLD HAVE AGAINST ME? WEREN'T THE ISLE AND MY FATHER ENOUGH?"

Ben tried to calm things down. "Look, Gitane, I know you prefer to sleep in more open spaces like all gypsies, but as an Auradon student, you must be in one of the dorm rooms. Plus, you should be in Study Hall if you get suspended, unless you have permission to take the rest of the day off. Also, I was also planning on letting Charles use the West Wing as his news media studio."

Gitane looked at Ben. "Sorry Ben, but the first two parts are for society accepted folks like you and fancy royals while low-ranks like me don't deserve it." She turned to Charles. "Didn't know you were into the media."

Charles snorted as he turned his back on her. "None of your concern."

"Please don't do this now, Charles," Ben whispered to him before returning to the gypsy princess. "Look Gitane, here's a deal: if you peacefully go back to Study Hall, I'll discuss to the Internet Safety teacher about the issue you had together in order to solve it. As of the matter of you sleeping in the West Wing, you can be there…if Charles agrees to share the West Wing with just you."

"And if I refuse?" Gitane raised an eyebrow.

"Then I can arrange a seat for you in Redemptial Goodness."

Charles looked at Ben in disbelief. The latter was making a deal with that crazy gypsy and putting him in a dreadful position: either spend most of his day in here with Gitane or getting stuck with her for almost 2 hours in Redemptial Goodness, his least favorite class so far, every morning. The world definitely had something against Charles.

"I'll agree on the terms if Charlesy agrees on his part," Gitane finally answered.

Ben turned to Charles with a firm look on his face. "It's up to you, Charles."

Charles looked at Gitane with disdain. He seriously didn't like her and being stuck sharing one room with her was bad enough. His mouth nearly shaped a no until he saw Gitane's face. This time, her face was giving a pleading look full of despair. Her eyes were nearly crying and begging for Charles to say yes. Charles recognized that face. He made the same face whenever his father was on the verge of beating him.

He sighed reluctantly. "Fine. I suppose we can share the West Wing…a little."

Ben sighed in relief while Gitane squealed in delight.

"See, Charlesy? You _can_ be adorable." Gitane tapped Charles' nose in the same manner she did earlier. He was about to respond in an angry way until Gitane gave him a deep kiss on the left cheek. There was enough coming through those lipstick-covered lips to freeze the gray-haired boy. Charles had a hard time looking at her when she pulled away.

"I'll see you around." She caressed his chin. No denying it, it was too much for him.

"S-sure," Charles stammered as Gitane left.

"Seems like she likes you," Ben teased Charles as the doors closed. He watched the dazed Charles until the latter slapped himself physically and returned to his conscious self.

"Well I don't!" he snapped.


	6. Lunch For Worries, Prejudice, And Gossip

Chapter 6: Lunch For Worries, Prejudice, and Gossip

"I'm such a failure!"

It was around noon that Lonnie complained about herself. She still felt horrible about what happened in Auradon History class when she accidently made Haya throw up in front of the entire class.

"Relax, Lonnie. Haya is a tough girl," Xaos said, taking bites of his hamburger after each word. "It's not the first time she puked in public."

"Sweetie, that's not a topic to discuss at lunch time," Kory gently scolded. She stirred her spoon in her lentil soup bowl, watching the beans that were probably unfamiliar to her, before returning to Lonnie. "All he's saying, Lonnie, is that you shouldn't take too much guilt about it. Not all first impressions are good, you know."

"I know, but…" Lonnie began before Gabriel Legume came, accompanied by Jay, Audrey, Mal, and Macy.

"Check it! Heard you made Hun girl puke in class!" Gabriel loudly chuckled as he gave a what-he-called friendly slap on Lonnie's back. The latter wouldn't have jumped in surprise if Gabriel hadn't given the back slap on the down part of her back. Jay quickly covered Audrey's eyes as if he didn't want her to see what would happen next. It was a good thing he did, for Macy had grabbed her bag and hit Gabriel hard on the face with it, knocking him on the ground. A few bystanders looked in curiosity or surprise at the group before returning to their activities.

"HANDS OFF LADIES!" Macy angrily told Gabriel. "SHOW SOME MORE CIVILIZED MANNERS WHILE IN PUBLIC!"

"Geez, sorry," Gabriel mumbled before sitting next to Xaos. When Lonnie saw Gabriel's tray, she wanted to throw up just like Haya did: his tray was full of meat products like hamburgers, sausages, and an omelet. The only non-meat product he had was a glass of milk.

"Thanks for covering my eyes, Jaydee," Audrey smiled at Jay as he removed his hand from his girlfriend's eyes. "I needed that."

Mal sat next to Lonnie. "So what exactly happened? I heard Haya threw up."

Lonnie groaned as she poked on her salad. "It's my fault. She lost her stomach when I told her that I was Mulan's daughter."

"You told her just like that?" Audrey asked. "I guess I'm lucky that you didn't throw up when I said I was Sleeping Beauty's daughter when we first met, Mal."

"It was different." Mal took a sip of water. "I kept control of my disgust back then. Haya usual does the same thing unless she can't handle her overwhelming disgust."

"Because it's not the first time?"

"Nope," Jay shook his head. "I've seen her throw up at things that overwhelm her with disgust." He turned to his Isle peers. "Remember that time when Prince Hans' kid Hannah came to Dragon Hall with a super, frilly, tacky pink outfit. Too much pink made Haya lose it."

Macy Beth nodded. "I'll never forget that time when she got disgusted at Chloe Hook's taunting of how the Huns lost. The scene was horrible."

Gabriel shrugged as he took a large bite of his hamburgers. "Well on the positive side, it was a bit fun to watch Chloe getting covered with Hun vomit." His comment made the others wince in disgust.

"Who's Chloe Hook?" Lonnie asked in curiosity.

"Just one of Captain Hook's twin daughters." Macy pulled out a purple book from her backpack with the Dragon Hall logo on it.

"You brought one of your Dragon Hall yearbooks?" Mal arched an eyebrow.

"Of course. You thought I wouldn't get a little percentage of homesickness?" Macy Beth flipped through a few pages until she landed on one page. She pointed at a full-page picture to Lonnie. It depicted two girls: one of them had long black hair with a green streak and pearly black eyes. A brown vest overlapped her white tank top. She wore black tights with matching black boots. A sword and blade were strapped to her belt and she wore a pirate skull necklace. At her side stood a girl with the exact same facial features, only her black hair was simple, reached her shoulders, and was held back by a pirate skull hairclip. She wore a crimson shirt with gold lining and hook-like patterns and greyish short sleeves. The cuff of her brown belt was red with a silver hook. Her rose pants were short and the tongues of her shoes reached above her shins. She had for accessories two bracelets (one per arm), a white cravat, hook earrings, and a handbag that looked like a treasure chest. Not to mention that she wore nerdy glasses.

"Those are Captain Hook's daughters," Macy said as Lonnie and Audrey, who were unfamiliar with life on the Isle, looked at the picture. "Chloe is the one with the green streak while the one with the glasses is Jane."

"Wow. Who knew there were two different Janes?" Audrey remarked.

"I'm guessing Chloe's the eldest?" Lonnie asked.

"Yep." Mal finished her salad. "Chloe was born a few seconds before Jane. She created quite a racket on the Isle. Ironically, their dad preferred Jane because she was quieter and more obedient, unlike Chloe."

"I thought parents wanted kids to be…you know…peace disturbers?" Lonnie struggled to say.

Before any one could respond, a snort came nearby. When Lonnie and the others turned their heads, they saw Eleanor Malcolm standing in front of them with a look full of pride on her face.

"Well what do you know," she said in the rudest tone Lonnie had ever heard, "if it isn't the Isle losers and their degraded friends." She shot a dirty look at Lonnie, Kory, and Xaos. But when she glanced at Macy specifically, her glare darkened. Lonnie remembered how Eleanor had bad-mouthed Macy's dad in front of the Auradon History class.

"Leave them alone, Eleanor," Lonnie snapped. "They did nothing to you."

Eleanor snickered mockingly. "Says the girl who was sitting next to her mother's nemesis' daughter. I wonder what your parents would think if they learned that you were trying to associate with Huns." She made a dramatic, curious face, which bugged Lonnie.

"Well I wonder what your dad would say if he saw you acting like a spoiled brat!" Lonnie got up and pointed an angry finger at the Scottish brat. "Aren't you the so-called representative of God?"

Her comment shocked the others, especially Eleanor, who gave a disbelieving look at Lonnie.

"Lonnie, that's enough," Macy told gently as she placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, signaling her to calm down.

"No wonder you defected," Eleanor glared at Macy. "Lady Macbeth junior probably used one of her mother's manipulative tricks to corrupt you."

Macy slightly grimaced her teeth. Lonnie had no idea of what Macy would have possibly done if she wasn't as gentle and patient as she was, unlike Eleanor.

"What's going on here?" Ben had arrived on the scene with Finius.

"Ben…" Mal began, but Eleanor cut her off.

"The Isle of the Lost parasites are corrupting Auradon as usual," she said rudely.

"How dare you!" Xaos replied angrily. He was on the verge of getting up his seat until Jay and Gabriel held him back.

"Eleanor, have you forgot my royal decree?" Ben asked firmly. "They are to be given a second chance."

"Sure, the same way the first four took the liberty of abusing your trust in order to steal the magic wand for Maleficent. Who's to say that the new villains won't to something similar?"

Finius glared at Eleanor. "If you can't be nice to them, than I recommend you stay away from them, including me." Eleanor looked angrily at Finius. Judging by the way they were interacting, Lonnie could tell that the two Scottish nobles had a strained relationship.

"Hey, where's Charles?" Gabriel asked.

Suddenly, music started playing through the school speakers. It sounded like dark, rock music.

"Hey, wait a second!" Kory exclaimed. "Why's the beginning of our single _Knock Em Dead_ playing?"

Before anyone could answer, Charles Frollo's voice was heard throughout the speakers.

" _Greetings, students of Auradon Prep. You are listening to_ UNHOLY , _the radio version of my gossip channel,_ THE UNHOLY GAZETTE. _This is Charles Frollo speaking to you live from my new studio._

" _On the weather side, we are predicting a super sunny in the high 84 degrees Fahrenheit. So make sure that you dress up appropriately, because I've seen jocks overdressing in such heat, and believe me, it is_ _ **not**_ _a pretty sight._

" _On the sports side, we've got the Knights preparing for their first season's Tourney game. Since I've heard all the stories a few minutes ago that Jay Jafarius is the current star player of Auradon Prep's team, I can already predict that this will be a game that will knock every body off their juice. And since Gabriel Legume has joined the team a few hours ago, this will get spicy._

" _On the weird side, I've been informed that Haya Yu lost her stomach in Auradon History class. I have a hard time imagining what it will be like for the janitor to clean up the mess. As for Haya, she's currently recovering in the infirmary and mark my words, she is in a_ _ **fowl**_ _mood._

" _Well folks, this sums up the_ UNHOLY _for now. We will be transmitting the news live on radio three times a day, during breakfast, lunch, and dinner breaks. There will also be the_ UNHOLY GAZETTE _printed in newspaper delivered to you at the front of your dorms at the end of the day. If you have any juicy story or gossip you would like to share with others, feel free to contact me or my secretary Finius Macduff. This is the_ UNHOLY GAZETTE, _where news and gossip are more than just sinful._ "

There was a big silence coming from everyone until they all applauded and cheered. Next thing you knew, students were charging at Finius, begging him to have some of their stories or gossip submitted to Charles Frollo.

"Finius! Please, can you tell Charles to share my story about the issue with the homeless?"

"Please, please, ask Charles to share my gossip about fashion!"

"Ask Charles to send a message to the audience about petitioning for a girls' tourney team."

As Finius dealt with the overwhelming crowd of Charles' new fans begging for submission, the others watched from the distance.

"Wow," Jay said. "I nearly wanted to murder Charles for telling my last name in public, but seeing all of his fans makes me give up."

"Jafarius sounds interesting for a last name, Jaydee," Audrey teased her boyfriend. "Now I know what to write on my notebooks instead of 'Mrs. Jay'."

"Because you write yourself in a way that says 'I'm gonna marry Jay'?" Kory frowned. "Oh, wait. Your mom was married around sixteen, wasn't she?"

"Haya is going to be furious," Macy gulped. The others looked at her, some of them confused. "It's bad enough that she embarrassed herself in class, but Charles sharing it out loud will make her want to chop of his head. I know her and her Hun dignity."

Lonnie didn't feel so good at the mention of Haya. She quickly grabbed her tray and excused herself from the others. After she threw away the leftovers of her meal in the trash, she went towards the hallway that led to the girls' bathroom. When she reached the hallway, she was surprised to see Gitane Trouillefou slouching on the wall, her arms crossed and her head frowning.

"Gitane? What's wrong? Why aren't with your friends?"

Gitane looked at Lonnie with a grumpy face before returning her eyes to the ground. "I'm fine," she mumbled.

This definetly did not sound like the lively Gitane that Lonnie you. At all.

"If it's about Charles Frollo and his UNHOLY GAZETTE, don't worry. I doubt he'd be crazy enough to insult gypsies in front of the school after recently getting permission to settle a studio."

Gitane snorted. "Lonnie, I already know how to handle prejudice, and Charlesy is not good at being prejudiced so far."

"So what's the issue?"

Gitane didn't answer and merely looked over Lonnie's shoulder. When the latter turned to see what she was looking it, she saw the crowd going crazy as they asked Finius the same questions concerning Charles.

"You don't like the fact that he gets more attention than you?"

"You're halfway there, but that's not it."

Lonnie pondered. If Gitane didn't like Charles getting all the attention, then what was the problem?

"Tiny question, Gitane," Lonnie asked. "Do you usually like being the center of attention?"

"Only when I need to collect money from my clan back in Paris. My dad didn't exactly have all the money he needed for me to apply at Auradon Prep. Why?"

Lonnie did the math: Gitane didn't like how Charles was getting so much attention. The Gypsy Princess didn't like being the center of attention unless it was necessary and didn't seem to think that Charles was as racist as his father was.

No, it couldn't be possible. It couldn't be the other way around!

"YOU LIKE CHARLES FROLLO?" Lonnie realized out loud.

Gitane suddenly blushed at every inch of her face. "Keep screaming. I don't think they can hear you all the way downtown." She then gave a small smile. "But yes, I kinda do."


	7. Knock Em Dead

Chapter 7: Knock Em Dead

Classes were done for the day at 3pm.

The last two classes were OK for Lonnie. Chemistry was pretty good when she became lab partners with Evie, Macy, and Doug. Evie's knowledge of chemistry always impressed others, especially Doug, her boyfriend. Macy was also pretty good at the subject, even though Mr. Delay had Macy show that she had nothing in her pockets (just to make sure she wasn't cheating like Evie did last year), and made quite an impression when doing a live demonstration of obtaining _sodium chloride_.

" _Impressive_ ," Mr. Delay had told her. " _And how did you learn such things on the Isle?_ "

" _My boyfriend played a lot with chemicals and potion ingredients_ ," Macy had simply said.

Botany was the only class she didn't have with any of her new friends. Lonnie felt a bit lonely working by herself, but she did like taking care of plants, especially the oriental ones that came from her home.

After Botany class was over, with her teacher's permission, she got to bring a potted cherry blossom bonsai to decorate her room. Once she put her pot on the little table near her window, she went to join Kory, Macy, and Xaos under one of the oak trees in the gardens. The sun was shining brightly as they sat in the shade, working on their homework. Lonnie was working with Xaos and Kory for their Auradon History while Macy seemed to be doing both her Redemptial Goodness homework and something else.

"What are the others doing?" Lonnie asked. "I know that Evie and Mal are at the library, but what about the others?"

"Gabriel, Jay, and Carlos went to train with Ben on the Tourney field," Xaos said as he chewed his pen while reading a difficult question in the homework. "Kory, what did you put for question five?"

"King Adam's 4th decree concerning the use of magic in the kingdom," Kory told her boyfriend before speaking to Lonnie. "Audrey is practicing cheerleading. I heard Jane is trying to get a position in publishing the school yearbook. Finius, I have no idea. As for Charles, I have no idea were he disappeared to. Probably secluded himself in his new studio, just like back on the Isle."

"Doesn't he usually hang out with his friends when he has free time?" Lonnie asked.

The three villainous kids gave uneasy looks to one another, not sure what to say. Finally, Macy got the courage to speak up by the time she put away her now finished Redemptial Goodness homework.

"Not really. His dad isn't exactly…you know…a softie."

"Yeah, I know," Lonnie replied. "I'm already aware that villains don't love their kids…I mean, that's what Mal and the others revealed to me when I believed that even villains loved their kids."

"Hey, we know what you mean." Kory said as she closed her Auradon History book in order to focus on Lonnie. "Look, there are a teeny tiny amount of people on the Isle who are lovable relatives. Like Xaos and me, for instance. At least half of our families have shown they love us. My own mom made my favorite meat pies when I didn't have a good day."

"My dad and my three older brothers are super fun," Macy said. She smiled as she thought of them. "They know how to make me laugh, they think of my welfare, and they support me no matter what."

"But of course there's a high majority of relatives on the Isle who are despicable," Xaos said, contrasting his peers' last comments. "My mother gets irritating when I don't follow every single thing she tells me to do and my dad treats me as a failure when I go visit him in Tartarus and I didn't do the amount of mischief that he desired."

"Same with mine." Kory nodded.

"Plus, most of our mortal family members hate us since they believe we are the main reason why they all got stuck on the Isle of the Lost."

"I remember. Kory, you said that if a mortal was involved with an evil god, especially if it was a love affair, then the mortal's entire family ended up on the Isle."

Kory nodded, unpleased by the thought.

"My mother's a living nightmare," Macy grumbled as she laid on her stomach and made an angry pout. This was the first time Lonnie had seen Macy with an unfriendly look on her face. "She's obsessed at making me like her and my dad: a power-hungry lunatic who would kill a king and use twisted manipulation to get her way."

"I can't believe she insulted Manny in front of you?" Xaos said.

"Why? What didn't she like about Manny?" Lonnie asked a little too curiously. "So far I've heard that he's a very nice guy and he seems very dedicated to you, Macy."

"That's sweet of you, Lonnie." Macy gave Lonnie a small smile. "But no. It's not because Manny wasn't quite villainous or she didn't believe that he wouldn't be a loyal partner. No, she didn't like him because he was neither popular nor of royalty."

"Seriously?"

"She's not kidding, Lonnie," Kory told seriously. "Many villains on the Isle prefer partnering up either by social ranks or by evil reputation. Manny wasn't exactly popular, especially in Dragon Hall. He was mostly known for accidently causing chemical explosions due to his 'accidental' mistakes when mixing up ingredients."

"Just so I know, who are his parents?"

"Medea, the sorceress who aided her lover Jason to obtain the Golden Fleece and married him until he left her for the princess of Corinth, which caused her to poison his bride and murder her own two children. She's an expert in potions and spells, but ever since she got locked up on the Isle of the Lost by Auradon's authorities, she has no more magic left. She now runs an apothecary store where she uses her potion-making skills to make medicine for the locals, but without her magic, they take quite a while to have any effects on those who use it."

"Wait. Wasn't Medea a princess? That would make Manny a royal, so Lady Macbeth wouldn't object to him dating Macy." Lonnie tried to cheer up Macy with it, but Macy wasn't very affected.

"It's not that simple, Lonnie," Macy said quietly. "Medea lost her royal rank _twice_ : the first time, she betrayed her father and people in order to be with Jason. There, she lost her royalty by birth. The second time, after she had the 'complications' with Jason, she lost her royalty by marriage. Even if Manny had a royal ancestry, his mother was considered as a commoner when she got to the Isle, thus making him a commoner when he was born. And my mother loathes people who aren't aristocrats like us."

"She even tried pairing you up with Gabriel when she found out he was hitting on you," Xaos snickered. Macy ended up throwing a rock on his face with frustration. It hit Xaos on the forehead and he made an average 'OUCH!' as he covered his bumping forehead with his right hand.

"Not funny, Xaos!" Macy muttered. She turned her head to the school's clocktower and when she saw the time, she grabbed her stuff. "I'm going to the infirmary. I have to give Haya the homework she needs. See you at dinnertime."

"Will you tell her that I'm still sorry for making her throw up in class?" Lonnie asked in a polite, gentle way.

"Sure. I will." After that, Macy stormed off.

Kory slapped her boyfriend on the arm, much to his dismay. "Well done, Xaos! I thought we said to never mention Gabriel's pursuit of Macy in front of others!"

"It slipped out by accident!" Xaos defended himself.

"Let's not talk about Gabriel pursuing Macy," Lonnie suggested. "Knowing how he nearly touched my butt earlier today, I can tell where this is leading to."

The evil demigods nodded in approval. Although she did want to know how bad Claude Frollo was as a parent towards Charles, Lonnie figured that she shouldn't after her new friends first day of school full of roughness.

Kory then pulled something out of her backpack: a large, green disc player with wolf motifs on them. She set it near her on the grass.

"I'm going to play one of our Dark Rulers singles to ease the mood a bit," she said. "You guys don't mind?"

Xaos gave a nod of approval to his girlfriend. Lonnie said she did want to hear what kind of music they made, even though it was mostly themed for villains. Kory pulled out a CD and put it in her disc player. She hit the play button and the music of _Knock Em Dead_ that Lonnie had heard earlier at lunchtime was playing.

Haya: _Deep in the shadows,_

 _I sneak in my territory._

 _Surrounded by black widows,_

 _But fear isn't mandatory._

' _Cause I'll knock em dead._

Macy: _I hear the villains scream_

 _As there's a mob in the streets._

 _I could wish this to be a bad dream,_

 _But I don't have to be discreet,_

' _Cause I'll knock em dead._

Haya & Macy: _Knock em deeeeeaaaaad._

 _They'll be screaming our names._

 _Knock em deeeeeaaaaad._

 _We'll tear them like Scar's mane._

 _Knock em deeeeeaaaaad._

Kory: _I lurk behind their backs._

 _Like Kaa, I slither in discretion._

 _I don't need to hunt in packs;_

 _They'd just be a distraction._

' _Cause I'll knock em dead._

Xaos: _No matter how they try, they can't find me._

 _I'm as wicked fast as a scorpion in a desert._

 _They'll soon wish they didn't mess with me._

 _Like a storm I'll turn them into my dessert._

' _Cause I'll knock em dead._

Kory and Xaos: _Knock em deeeeeaaaaad._

 _I can hear them scream our names._

 _Knock em deeeeeaaaaad._

 _They'll regret being our aims._

 _Knock em deeeeeaaaaad._

Dark Rulers: _Knock em deeeeeaaaaad._

Kory: _Nothing can stop us to_

Dark Rulers: _Knock em deeeeeaaaaad._

Haya: _We're so gonna_

Dark Rulers: _Knock em deeeeeaaaaad._

Macy: _It's never too late for us to_

Dark Rulers: _Knock em deeeeeaaaaad._

Xaos: _We so wanna_

Dark Rulers: _Knock em deeeeeaaaaad._


	8. Charles Sees the Bells of Auradon Prep

Chapter 8: Charles sees the Bells of Auradon Prep

"… _And that was your gossip report about the newest sales at the Auradon County Mall from Lotus Sultana. Don't forget to consult her for more shopping tips at Auradon's most well known mall. Well folks, this sums up the_ UNHOLY _for now. Don't forget to check for newspaper drop-offs in front of your dormrooms before lights are out. This is the_ UNHOLY GAZETTE _, where news and gossip are more than just sinful."_

It was around 5:30pm when Charles was done with his dinnertime gossip report. Hellfire, he was exhausted. First, he had to deal with a bunch of Auradon kids who wanted to get their gossip submitted in his news station all afternoon. Then, he was stuck in a Religion Recognition class taught by a teacher who actually got his house burned down by Judge Frollo, thus loathed Charles. Then, a blue bag full of self-awareness named Chad Charming bullied him, calling him a 'harmful brute who will burn us all at the stake' and pushing him to the ground; Charles responded by kicking the latter in the groin and running away in the shadows that led to the West Wing while others gathered around a pained Chad.

Plus, Charles had been doing both his homework and his news report at the same time; putting so much concentration exhausted him. Unfortunately, Charles Frollo didn't know how to sleep. His endless days slaving away at the mercy of his father's abusiveness prevented him from even taking one small nap.

He heard a small knock, which made him turn and see Gitane Trouillefou standing near the window, with a hand near a wall and in a position that indicated she knocked. Even she didn't give him a heart attack this time, Charles still sulked at her presence.

"What do you want?" he snapped.

"Thought you might want to know that Fairy Godmother isn't gonna place you a big punishment for kicking Chad in the balls?" she said simply.

"Seriously?"

"Nope. Although, you and Chad are getting the same homework for a whole week: learning by heart the Auradon Prep conduct rulebook."

Charles arched an eyebrow. "How should **I** know that **you** 're telling the truth, **gypsy**?" He pointed out those words in order to emphasize his racism, hoping that he'd keep Gitane away from him so that he could be left alone in peace. Aside from Ben, Finius, and his villainous peers, Charles wanted nothing to do with anyone in this blasted school.

But Gitane took things in a rather different level. She walked towards Charles and grabbed the top of his chair's upholstery. Suddenly, using only one hand to hold the upholstery, Gitane pulled the chair backwards, causing Charles to lean on it. Surprised by the gypsy's sudden reaction, Charles held on to the arm holds for dear life since his feet now barely touched the ground; the villain was now confronted by the look of a now annoyed Gitane.

"You know, I'm trying to be nice to you and make you feel at home at Auradon, but you trying to act like your dad is going through my nerves!" she grumbled through gritted teeth.

" _Trying_?" Charles scoffed. " **Trying**? I'M NOT TRYING TO BE MY FATHER; I AM LIKE MY FATHER!"

" **NO, YOU'RE NOT!** " Gitane's voice rising caused Charles to lean to far, thus making him fall of his chair and land hard on his back.

"Charlesy!"

Charles grunted as he held on to his sides. Unfortunately for him, his back got hit hard and now bloody stains were starting to appear on his dark brown shirt. The boy winced in pain.

"My god. What have I done?" Gitane choked. She quickly grabbed Charles and lifted him up, causing him to yelp in pain.

"Leave me be! Let me join my deceased mother in Hell!" he cried.

"You're gonna wait until you're ninety to join her. Right now, you need to see Avery."

"Avery?" Still carrying Charles, Gitane opened the windows and got into the balcony. She looked around until she saw an angelic gargoyle and knocked on its head six times. Stones started pulling out from one of the walls' forming a ladder that led all the way to the top of the school towers.

"Hold on tight," Gitane said as she suddenly started going up the stoned ladder.

"Are you crazy?! Where the hell are you taking me?" a pained Charles exclaimed as he clung on to Gitane.

"To the belltower of Auradon Prep!"

 _Time skip_

The first thing that Charles Frollo did when they arrived a few seconds before six o'clock at the balcony of the belltower was to throw up and let his vomit rain down over 20 stories to the ground. (Unbeknown to him, it had landed on a disgusted Chad.)

"I rest my case: you're going to be the death of me," Charles choked in pain as Gitane helped him walk inside the tower.

"Don't worry, you'll get better soon," she reassured him. They walked through a small door and for the first time since his first 24 hours at Auradon, Charles saw the bells that rose above Auradon Prep. They were nearly one quarter of the size of the school and were held strongly by gudgeons and headstocks. The eyes of Charles widened as the remaining rays of sunlight reflected on the rows of golden bells like diamonds.

"It's amazing," the villainous boy said quietly. He'd never seen such beauty back on the Isle of the Lost.

"Gitane smiled as she held on to Charles. "Here comes the best part." She took out a watch from her pocket and showed it to Charles as it hands marked 6 o'clock.

The bells suddenly swung and entered into a choir of bongs, chimes, and ding-dongs that were loud, clear, and magnificent in the ears of everyone. The noises kept going about twelve times.

Then, Charles saw it: a teenager swinging down and around the bells, accompanied by three grayish teenagers that bounced on the bells without fearing to fall. They laughed and sang as they made their way to the wooden floor.

 _Now here is a riddle to guess if you can_

 _Sing the bells of Auradon Prep._

 _Who is the monster and who is the man?_

 _Sing the bells, bells, bells, bells,_

 _Bells, bells, bells, bells,_

 _Bells of Auradon Prep._

They landed on the floor right in front of Gitane and Charles; the bells stopped their angelic music.

"Hi, Gitane!" one of the grayish teenagers said. "How are you doing? Last time we saw you was back in Paris."

"Nice to see you again, Victoria, but chitchatting will have to wait," Gitane said before turning to the non-grayish teenager. Charles couldn't figure out if it was a boy or a girl; all he could figure out was that the kid had golden red hair, peach skin, and wore a green shirt over his pale jeans and black sneakers.

"Avery, I need your help," Gitane said, her voice full of concern. "My friend's injured…"

"We aren't friends!" Charles retorted annoyingly as he forced himself away from Gitane's grasp, which made him wince in pain even more.

"What's Frollo's son doing in _my_ belltower?" Avery asked in a dark tone.

"She forced me in." Charles pointed an accusing finger at Gitane.

"You were injured!" Gitane responded defensively.

"By you! If you hadn't forced my chair down, or even better, if you had just left me alone..." Charles' voice began rising.

"Yeah, that's not Frollo's son," one of the other grayish teenagers said. "The old man was the one going after the gypsy and not the other way around."

"Good point, Hubert," Victoria said. She poked Charles on the sides, which made him yelp. "What the hell have you been eating? You're scrawnier than Laverne's gargoyle arms."

"Hey! Respect my mom, Victoria!" the last grayish teenager said.

"Sorry, Lawrence."

"Wow, he's bleeding a lot on the back. Reminds me of the French Revolution."

What Lawrence said got everyone's attention: they looked at Charles' back and saw that his bleeding was increasing by the minute, darkening his brown shirt.

"HOLY HUMP!" Avery cried. "Gitane, what did you do to him?"

"It…it was an accident…" Gitane stammered as she saw more blood appearing on Charles.

"Quick! Help me take Charles to my bed! Victoria, go get some cool water from the sink! Lawrence, get some bandages and cream from my medical cabinet! Hubert, go see the mailbox!"

"Ay, ay, captain Avery Modo!" the trio said as they hopped their way about in stoned sounds. Charles squinted and noticed that they had wings on their backs.

"Please don't tell me those are gargoyles…" Charles whimpered as Gitane and Avery both helped Charles walk to Avery's medium-sized bed.

"They are. Their the children of Victor, Hugo, and Laverne, my dad's gargoyle friends." Avery helped Charles sit on the bed. "Take your shirt off."

" _Excuse me_?" Charles arched his eyebrows.

"You have a better idea of taking care of your injury, Frollo Junior?"

"OK. You win. But don't call me that." Charles unfastened the buttons of his shirt and pulled it off. The sight of the boy was horrifying to the eyes of Gitane and Avery. The bones of the rib cage were terribly visible and sticking to the pale skin. There were scars on the sides; scars of what could have been whip strokes. The scariest part was the back: there were at least over a thousand cuts, scars, and gashes that were barely healing. Most of them were bleeding endlessly, turning Charles' back into a battlefield of gore.

"HOLY HUMP!" Avery exclaimed.

"Charlesy!" Gitane gasped, her hands grasping her hair in horror. "How on earth did you get all this?"

Charles tried to swallow back tears, but to no avail. For the first time in his entire life, he flooded tears like a baby. "My father…" he choked between pained sobs.

Avery helped Charles lie down with his stomach on the bed's mattress. Lawrence and Victoria came back with the supplies Avery required. The latter used the water to wet a towel before padding it on Charles' back, causing Frollo's son to groan in pain. Gitane held Charles' hands, reassuring him that everything would be alright. After softly drying the back with a clean towel, Avery applied some cream on the wounds and had Charles sit up gently in order to firmly wrap up his torso with bandages.

"Don't remove those bandages for a week," Avery recommended as Charles wobbled on his feet. Lawrence helped him stand up. "I recommend you only use a sponge and sap to clean yourself until then."

"It's a good thing your dad Quasimodo taught you how to apply medical attention," Victoria said, giving a thumbs up to Avery.

"Thank you," Charles said quietly to Avery. The latter gave a small sympathetic smile as he handed a large, simple black blouse. Getting the message that they wanted him to cover himself up, he took the blouse and put it on despite the fact that it was a little big for him. "I…should probably get going. I've caused you enough trouble."

"How exactly are you planning to go back down?" Lawrence said. "By going down the wall ladder that you and Gitane used. Your back will lead you to your doom."

"He's right," Avery said. "I highly discourage you going down the belltower in your current condition. Why don't you spend the night here and go back to downstairs tomorrow at dawn? School doesn't officially wake up until 7 am."

"Plus it's Hubert's turn to make dinner tonight," Victoria pointed out. "Judging by the smell, looks like Chef Chip sent us the proper ingredients for Hubert to make his special quesadillas."

Charles wanted to refuse again, having dealt enough in one day, but Gitane gave another pleading face just like the one she gave him earlier today at the West Wing. Plus, his stomach complained loudly the same way it did every day.

"I guess one night won't kill me," he shrugged flatly.


	9. Auradon Needs Evil Talent & Reality Show

Chapter 9: Auradon Needs Evil Talent And Reality Show

A week had passed in Auradon Prep. Things seemed to be flowing alright. While the Tourney team was practicing every afternoon for the upcoming game, students were dealing with their daily routines. However, the situations for the new villainous students were on-and-off. Gabriel was now rivaling Jay as star player of the team and attracted the attention of many girls, much to the annoyance of jocks like Chad Charming. In his Chemistry class, Xaos had the disadvantage of suddenly getting his demigod powers while doing a class experiment: he accidently turned a solution of silver nitrate into a toxin gas and nearly intoxicated the entire classroom. The accident caused Auradon Prep to call the fire department and for him and Kory-who also got her powers awoken after inadvertently giving Gorgon hair to Eleanor, who was bugging her-to get new spots in Controlling & Understanding Magic, a special class taught by Merlin himself and F.G in order for students with magical powers like Mal, Jane, and now Xaos and Kory.

Macy was enjoying herself at school. So far, she got fair, good grades, and teachers admired her participation and desire-to-know new things in class. Many girls asked her for advice when they had problems and the sweet Scottish princess' advice worked efficiently. Yet, she still missed the Isle of the Lost, where she grew up during her entire life and had so many friends that she cared about. She missed her father and three brothers so much, and was depressed that she couldn't be with her boyfriend Manny. On the positive note, she certainly didn't miss her mother.

Charles, nobody really knew. His Isle peers only saw him at Redemptial Goodness class in the morning. He was separated from them in other classes and barely hung out with them or anyone else during meals or free time. Finius said that Charles mostly stayed cooped up in his studio. For those who came from the Isle, it wasn't a new thing.

As for Haya, she came out of the infirmary three days after she puked. She didn't seem to have gotten over the fact that Lonnie, who happened to be the child of the woman who threw her father's victory into the dumpster, made the Hun girl humiliate herself in front of Auradon. Although the others kept telling her that it only was an accident and that Lonnie didn't mean it, Haya wasn't convinced and kept herself distanced from Lonnie and refused to talk to her.

It was now Monday, at lunchtime. The old and new villains were eating together with Ben and Lonnie. Jane had to attend a yearbook meeting while Audrey had to stay in class and talk to a teacher; apparently, she was caught writing ' _Mrs. Jay Jafarius_ ' in her notebook instead of taking notes in her class.

"Cheer up, you guys," Ben said. "Today's Mail Day."

"Mail Day?" Gabriel asked. "What on earth is that, Beast Boy?" Gaston's son had the tendency of calling Ben like that, but Ben didn't seem to mind. After all, it sounded better than Benny Bear.

"It's when your parents send you mail or packages every Monday, especially for students who live outside of Auradon," Ben explained. "For example, Lonnie gets letters and packages from her parents every Mondays since they live in China."

Lonnie gave a weak smile at Ben while she gave a quick glance and noticed that Haya looked grumpy at the mention of China.

"Would it work for us?" Macy asked while poking in her lasagna. "I mean…it's great here, but I do have a sort of homesickness. If you know what I mean…" Her eyes lowered with sadness as Evie patted her hand.

"We know, Macy," the Evil Queen's daughter said. "We got Mail Day when we officially settled in Auradon, but ever since we beat Maleficent, our parents refused to speak to us."

"Yeah, well, it's not their fault if Maleficent's plan to take Fairy Godmother's wand was overrated," Haya snorted out loud as she savagely cut through her steak with her knife as if she were slaughtering a wild animal.

"HAYA!" the group of villains, old and new, snapped in union.

"What?" Haya held out her hands in defense while clutching her knife in one hand. "A Hun doesn't lie!"

"A Hun also knows to shut her mouth at times," Gabriel talked back. That pissed off Haya. She stormed off her chair and grabbed Gabriel by the collar, literally lifting the muscular boy off his feet. Xaos, Kory and Jay tried to restrain Haya while they inadvertently caught the attention of others.

" **REPEAT THAT TO MY FACE, MALE CHAUVENIST PIG!"** Haya roared at Gabriel.

" **WILL NOT!** " responded Gabriel.

"OK, guys! Enough!" Ben ordered, trying to soothe things down.

"ATTENTION!"

A voice made everyone stop and look at the entrance of the cafeteria to see Charles holding a black megaphone. He was accompanied by Finius, who was carrying newspapers, Gitane, who stood barely one foot away from Charles, and some blonde girl with blue eyes dressed up in a lightning blue motif outfit and carrying a clipboard. What really surprised the group was that Charles was wearing a black-and-white tie-dye T-Shirt and sunglasses.

"Who's the hippie dressed up as Charles?" Haya whispered as she let go of Gabriel.

"In case you are wondering why I am here, let me tell you three things," Charles continued. " _Numéro un_ , Aaricia Foster here has an announcement to make." He handed the megaphone to the blonde girl.

"Why does her name sound familiar to me?" Kory asked Lonnie.

"Uh…her dad's Thor and her mother's Jane Foster," the latter hesitated. "I guess she's…your cousin?"

That made Kory grimace. Obviously she didn't like seeing a descendant of her father's arch-nemesis.

"Thank you. I wanted to inform you all that we are beginning to do auditions for our school's talent show _Auradon Needs Talent_. Sign ups will begin as soon as the announcement is over," Aaricia said before she passed the megaphone to Charles.

Xaos tapped his hands on Kory, Macy, and Haya's shoulders one at a time. "Guys! A talent show! We can finally play our music!" he suggested gleefully.

"It would be great to see you guys onstage again," Mal agreed.

"I don't know, Mal," Haya said flatly. "Would Auradon want villains like us to play villainous music?"

"Why not? Your song _Knock Em Dead_ was awesome!" Lonnie suggested.

Haya frowned in confusion when she heard what Lonnie said.

" _Numéro Deux_ ," Charles continued through his megaphone. "Today is Mail Day. So here it comes!"

The doors opened and a bunch of mailmen entered, bringing mail to students who were gleefully grabbing and opening them to see what their parents sent them. Lonnie noticed that the Isle kids looked sad at the thought of not receiving anything from their relatives back on the Isle. Suddenly, four men came carrying four large packages to their table.

"Excuse us, but are you the new students from the Isle of the Lost?" one of them asked.

"Uh…yes?" Kory said.

"You got packages from your friends and family from the Isle."

Everyone in the room looked in surprise at the mention of the new students receiving packages.

"WE GOT MAIL?" Macy yelped. "YAY!"

"Just sign here, Your Majesty, to confirm your permission that they are allowed to get mail from home." Ben was handed a piece of paper, which he signed.

After everyone heard the last announcement, which was receiving printed newspapers of the UNHOLY GAZETTE, everyone rushed to the table of the group to see what they had.

"Easy there!" Gitane said as she made way for her, Charles, Finius, and Aaricia to pass. "Let them breathe a bit!"

"Go on, open it," Ben told them.

Haya used her knife to open the first package. She found a small paper in it, saying that the first package were from the parents of Charles, Gabriel, and Haya.

"If my father sent me one of his Bibles, burn it," Charles grumbled.

"Interesting how you guessed correctly, only it's not just a Bible." Haya pulled out an uncovered book that was half the weight of the package, with a dark cover and a golden title: _BIBLE AND THE UNHOLY TRUTHS ABOUT GYPSIES._

"Wow, how thoughtful of him," Charles said sarcastically as Haya nearly buried him by putting the book in his hands. Gitane helped him carry one side of the monstrous book. "Ben, where's the incinerator in this school?"

"There isn't one, but if you want, we can shred it," Ben offered.

"Thanks." Charles and Gitane threw away the book on the ground.

"He also left you a note," Haya pulled out an old scrap of paper. " _You'd better exterminate all those gypsies boy, or you'll be hearing from me and my whip. Sincerely, the man who was cursed to be your father._ "

"This is how your father tells you that he misses you?" Finius questioned.

"Yes, along with happy birthday, merry Christmas, happy new year, good morning, good night, have a good day at school, and other agonizing terrors," Charles listed with his fingers.

"You didn't deserve it," Gitane said angrily. Other voices in the crowd agreed with her.

The villainous kids got a diversity of things from their parents: Gaston sent one of his son's trophies and wished him the best of luck at Auradon. It surprised Ben to picture his parents' nemesis as a doting father. Haya, much to her delight and to the surprise of others, received her father's recipe book and a calligraphy parchment telling her that she was missed on the Isle and that things weren't the same in the clan. Lonnie saw that Haya was fighting back tears; obviously she missed her father.

The second package had gifts from the families of Xaos, Kory, and Macy. The first two were surprised to see letters from each of their mortal relatives, either heart-warming or abusive, and only gifts from their divine parents: Seth had sent his son a bunch of magical amulets while Loki gave his daughter a book of Norse spells. Macy, on her part, received touching gifts from her father and big brothers: her entire collection of villainous magazines, a family picture of when they celebrated her sixth birthday together, and a poem written by her brother Alasdair saying how much they missed her, loved her, and felt lonely without their sweet little Macy. Some members of the Auradon cried when she read the poem out loud.

However, Lady Macbeth wasn't very motherly: Macy found out that her mother sent her a dagger and a note telling her to kill a king and usurp a kingdom.

"Ben, can we dispose of this?" Macy handed the dagger to the young king. "I don't want it."

"Sure." Ben took it and put it aside, next to the Bible Frollo gave his son.

"Hey, guys! The last two packages are from some of our friends back on the Isle!" Gabriel said.

Tension rose in the crowd of Auradonian students. Gifts from other descendants from the Isle?

"Cool!" Lonnie broke the tension. "Maybe we can learn about them." The six villainous students ignored her as Haya opened both of the packages and Gabriel helped her take out the contents.

"OOOH! Ingwer sent her some of her freshly-baked treats!" Kory said as she opened a small, white box full of bright cupcakes, cookies, and candy. Xaos immediately stuffed one pink cupcake in his mouth.

"Still delicious!" he sighed gleefully.

"Is Ingwer a pastry chef?" Aaricia asked.

"If her mother wasn't the Candy Witch, I'd be surprised," Jay said.

"But…wouldn't her pastries be poisoned?" Lonnie asked nervously.

"Not for villains," Kory said as she grabbed a cookie. "Food from the Isle of the Lost is lethal to anyone in Auradon or the rest of the world."

"On the bright side, she sent her a book with her recipes," Macy cut in, waving a small book with a cupcake cover. "We can always modify the recipes…"

"That would be so great," Evie said. "I never got the opportunity to take any of her baking classes."

"You don't know how to bake?" Doug asked.

"Yep."

"Hey, Macy! Your boyfriend sent you this," Gabriel said, tossing a small purple vial that Macy managed to catch.

"Really?" She looked at a small tag attached to it. "It _is_ from Manny! I wonder what it is…" She began uncorking the bottle.

"Uh, maybe you should wait, Macy," Haya said nervously. "Your man's chemicals have a tendency to explode." But Macy didn't listen. She uncorked the bottle and a smoky, colorful night blue butterfly with the golden, sparkly words I MISS YOU AND LOVE YOU SO MUCH floated in the air. Wows and sighs came from the crowd.

"It's so beautiful…" Gitane whispered.

"Manny's potion actually didn't explode?" Mal chuckled. "That's a new one."

"Why? Are you jealous because my boyfriend is incredibly romantic?" Macy asked teasingly to Maleficent's daughter.

"Hey! I can be romantic!" Ben complained, making his girlfriend laugh.

"Guys! Look!"

All eyes turned on Gabriel, who was holding some sort of dark crystal ball with a skeleton pedestal on it.

"Must be from Proserpine," Kory said as she had a closer look at the ball.

"Proserpine?" Lonnie asked.

"Hades' daughter. She's another demigod from the Isle and a Haitian voodoo priestess on her mother's side," Xaos said. "And no, her father isn't Dr. Facilier."

"What does it do?" Doug said.

"Hey! I've seen those before!" Gitane said. "I've met some gypsies in Haiti before who used balls like this. One crystal ball can show you what happens in only one place."

"Just one?" Doug asked, rather upset.

"She's right." Xaos showed a small piece of paper. "She said: _Usè ònè of your possèssìons fròm hòmè, ànd yòu càn sèe whàtever hàppèns òn thè Isle òf The Lòst."_

"Proserpine even speaks with her Haitian Creole accent through writing?" Charles asked.

"Give her a break!" Kory said flatly. "Anyway, if we use an object from home, we can see whatever is happening there."

"Really? Like a reality TV show?" a student asked.

"That would be cool!" another agreed. "We can finally learn what life is like for villains on the Isle!"

"Yeah! It could help us understand them and help them out if we have more coming!"

There were pleas coming from the crowd, begging for the villainous students to use the crystal ball in order to learn how their lives were so different from theirs. While some thought it would be beneficial during their stay in Auradon, some thought it wouldn't be so great to show their rather evil life back on the Isle. As for Ben, he said that if Fairy Godmother was alright with that, then they could do it. Kids cheered until the bell rang and everyone left for class. Before they left, Aaricia held the Dark Rulers back.

"I heard your song _Knock Em Dead_ last week, and let me just say it was awesome. So I was thinking…would you guys like to sign up for the talent show? We could use for a new change." She handed them her clipboard. "Plus, it could challenge Eleanor's annual opera singing victory."

At the mention of being wanted to show out their music and actually beat the Scottish brat who bullied them, Haya and her gang agreed and signed up.


	10. Reality Show, Episode 1

Chapter 10: Reality Show, Episode 1

It was still Monday, only classes were now over and everyone had gathered to the auditorium to watch the Isle of The Lost live from the crystal ball that the villainous kids got from their friend Proserpine. At first, Fairy Godmother was a bit hesitant about having students watch how villains lived in their prison island, but with over a hundred students signing a petition with adequate explanations of how it could be helpful and educational, she granted permission to show the Isle of the Lost live on screen only on Mondays, which was fine for everyone. Well, not everyone: Eleanor and Chad were the only ones against it and decided to remain in the library rather than get 'brainwashed by evil influence'.

Mal, Jay, Carlos, and Evie were sitting on a platform with Ben, Doug, Jane, and Audrey. The first four felt nervous: they'd been living on the Isle for almost their entire lives, and now, they were going to watch with a hundred Auradonian kids the place where they grew up, the alleys were they ran amok, the junkyard where they hung out with their old friends, and Dragon Hall, their old school, as if it were all part of a live, soap opera. Even their six comrades felt nervous.

While Xaos and Kory placed the crystal ball under a large screen with the Headmistress, Haya, Macy, Charles, and Gabriel sat in the front rows with Lonnie, Finius, Gitane, and Avery, who managed to get permission to come down with the gargoyle teens in order to watch the show.

"I sincerely hope the crystal ball doesn't show my father," Charles muttered, placing his hands on his face. "It's already hard to forget about him."

"With all the fear he sends to magic-users, children, and non-whites?" Gabriel scoffed. "I seriously doubt that, bro."

"Will you shut up for once, Gabe?" Lonnie said, giving a big frown at Gaston's son. "Your comments are becoming annoying."

"Finally something we can agree on!" Haya exclaimed in relief. She held out her hand in front of Lonnie, indicating that she wanted to do a high-five. Unsure at first, Lonnie gave back a high-five. Hopefully it would help clean the slate a little bit between the two.

"Relax, you guys," Gitane said quietly. "I'm sure the show won't be as bad as you think it is…"

"I'm sorry, Gitane, but do you happen to know my father?" Charles asked in a stoned voice.

"Technically, it's your fault if you were too scared of him to even try making friends with other people," Macy replied. "I'm mean, even I disobeyed my mother when she grounded me for months."

"You? Disobeying?" Finius asked, as if he couldn't picture Macy being naughty.

"Yes, I was." Macy straightened her shirt. "It's trendy for teens there to disobey their parents in order to go out and have fun."

They stopped talking when they saw that the Fairy Godmother had managed to set things up so that they could see on the screen whatever the crystal ball was seeing. So far, it was nothing put voodoo symbols floating in a black void full of red smoke. Some voices shivered in the rows.

"Proserpine will never stop amazing me," Haya chuckled.

"Can she do magic?" Victoria whispered.

"Eh." The villainous kids motioned with their hands.

"Attention, everyone!" F.G clapped her hands. "We are all here to watch a live documentary of what is happening currently on the Isle of the Lost. Please remain quiet and respectful while watching this. Questions will be asked after the show." She motioned the lights to turn off as she sat on a chair near the crystal ball with Xaos. Kory in the meantime was using one of Macy's Dragon Hall yearbooks in order to link the crystal ball with their old home. She held out her hands and pronounced the following words: " _Dark spirits from this double dome, show me whatever is occurring in my old home!"_

Thunder was heard and the screen was zooming out an image that ended up showing a neighborhood in the Isle of the Lost.

 _Lonnie couldn't believe that she was seeing the actual isle of the Lost. It wasn't full of dark houses and evil forests like she imagined from the bedtime stories that her father told her when she was a little girl. Instead, it was full of cramped houses made of broken stones and scraps of metal. There were a few tall, large houses, but they were rather narrow compared to those in Auradon, and makeshift. The streets and alleys were dark and dirty. Many people were walking in crammed groups in order to move about as much as they could. Merchant stands with old wood and torn cloth were gathered in the streets, with the salesmen shouting out loud for special products worth special prices. Everyone was dressed in ragged clothes, leather outfits, or attires with odd motives._

"This is where you grew up?" Lonnie asked Haya quietly.

"Yep. Welcome to the Isle of the Lost, Auradon's biggest dumpster for villains."

 _The image suddenly zoomed towards an old, yet scary-looking dark house with crooked bricks and a wooden roof. Lonnie noticed that Charles was shaking terribly when he saw the house; even Gitane's gentle touch couldn't reassure the boy. Then, a man came out of the dark house. Lonnie got the shock of her life when she saw that the grey-haired man with the torn black robe, tired, angry eyes, deep cheekbones, and medieval styled dark shoes looked like someone she knew. Of course! Charles was shrinking in fear at the sight of the man. And the adult audience was gasping in horror as if they knew him._

"Charles…is that?" Avery asked in horror.

"Judge Claude Frollo. My father."

 _Frollo stood in the middle of the street in front of his house. People stopped moving and made way for him in fear as they saw him. They watched as he called out for a squad of grey-skinned men wearing fur clothing and carrying jagged swords and daggers._

" _HUNS!" Frollo called out in an angry, rude tone._

 _Lonnie noticed that Haya was making an angry face. Obviously she didn't like the way Frollo was talking to her people._

" _What do you need, old man?" one of the Huns asked._

" _First of, respect from your soiled mouth!" Frollo snapped. The Auradon audience gasped in shock at the exposed racism. The villainous crowd on the Isle was cringing in fear before Frollo. "Second of, I've been robbed and I need you to go after the unholy thief who stole my property."_

" _And why do you need us to get it back for you?" another Hun asked flatly. "Why don't your men go fetch it themselves? Or maybe they're too chicken in fear of being violated?" The Hun squad began laughing, irating the minister._

" _Really? Because your dirty skinned master is too lazy to execute orders himself?"_

 _The Hun who mocked Frollo first suddenly got mad. "You will not mistreat Shan Yu in front of us, Frollo! He's our leader and we only follow his orders, not yours! He's the one in charge of the police on this Isle, not you! So shut your mouth!"_

" _Hypocrites! What has he done ever since the last batch of our rascals left to Auradon? Nothing!"_

" _Well, unlike you, Minister, he's grieving for Haya's departure. All of us Huns are," another Hun retorted._

 _Lonnie looked at Haya, who was fighting back tears at what she was hearing: her father and clan were missing her terribly and here she was watching them argue with Frollo with their lives at stake. Lonnie held Haya's fist in comfort; the Hun girl didn't pull away._

" _Yeah! After all, it's not like_ you've _done anything ever since your chew toy of a son left as well!"_

" _Who knows, maybe he finds the heroes' disgusting, soft food of tantalizing goodness much better than your sharp whips that you gave him at every single meal!"_

 _Frollo's face burned with red anger as he shouted and black men came out of his house, confronting the Huns._

" _ **If you dare mention that ungrateful, ghastly demon that I was doomed to father, I vow I'll**_ _...!" Frollo began screaming._

" _Hey, old man!" a voice shouted._

 _Everyone looked on top of Frollo's house. Two girls were standing on the roof, shaking bags full of coins and jewels as if they were tantalizing the crowd with candy. One of the girls was recognizable to Lonnie: it was Jane Hook, Captain's Hook youngest and nerdy daughter. She looked prettier alive than on a yearbook picture. The other girl was unrecognizable to Lonnie: she was much taller than Jane Hook and had a messy ponytail made of different tones of brown and a bang on the side. She was wearing a strapless golden dress with green sleeves, a green belt, golden-green fingerless gloves, light green leggings and dark-and-light green knee-high heeled boots. A green choker with a golden coin was strapped to her neck. Lonnie noticed that the girl was wearing earrings shaped like spinning wheels and carrying a bag with a spinning wheel motif._

"Who is the girl with Jane Hook?" Lonnie whispered.

"Amanda Von Stiltskin," Macy whispered. "The daughter of Rumplestiltskin, the only villain besides Maleficent who uses spinning wheels."

" _Did you forget what today is?" Amanda asked in a taunting way from the roof._

" _Don't you dare, imp!" Frollo threatened._

 _The girls didn't listen. They held the bags upside down and all the coins and jewel fell to the ground like a waterfall of gold. Villains shouted and pushed one another as they tried to get a hold of the treasures. Frollo kept shouting as he and his men tried to stop the others from taking his possessions. The Huns squad laughed as they watch the two teens run on top of the houses in order to avoid capture._

" _Teens these days will never stop amazing me," a Hun commented._

" _Yeah." One of the others sighed. "It's a shame I can't get younger like Gothel did before. How fun it seems to see those kids jumping from building to building, creating mishaps, going to school at Dragon Hall, and holding parties at the Junkyard!"_

 _The scene shifted to Amanda and Jane, jumping recklessly on top of all the buildings, not even bothering to rest. They laughed as they kept running above the neighborhoods._

" _I love this life!" Jane said as she held out her hands in the air as if she were flying. "Off I go to Evil Land!" They made a big jump towards the top of an electric tower, causing the thing to fall and crash-land, causing bystanders to get electrocuted._

 _Amanda chuckled. "C'mon, Jane! You adore this life! This is the Isle of the Lost! A villain's paradise! What more could you ask for?" They finally stopped to rest a bit after running over 20 blocks away from Frollo's house._

" _Uh, I'd ask for more supplies to fix the JOLLY ROGER," Jane pondered._

 _Amanda looked unamused. "You're kidding me, right? Every time I ask a rhetorical question, you just need to answer it?"_

 _Jane's smile faded. "Sorry. I just can never tell whenever you're gonna ask a real question. I can never tell the difference."_

" _Well, what would you have said if your dad asked you what way you take to go to Neverland?"_

" _Seriously? Just use pixie dust, faith and trust to fly to the second star to the right and straight on 'till morning in order to get there. C'mon! Even Sean's ten little sisters can answer it quickly!"_

 _Amanda looked dumbfounded. "OK…this wasn't a rhetorical question."_

" _Oh."_

 _They climbed down a fire escape and landed in an alley. Amanda pulled out a sewer lid and the girls got in before Jane pulled the lid back on top of her head. They walked in a tunnel full of pipes, trickling water, and darkness._

" _Seriously, though," Jane said. "I'd want more supplies to fix the ship."_

" _Your dad and crew were still unable to fix it?"_

" _What do you expect? With all the junk we get from Auradon's residents, the JOLLY ROGER wouldn't survive the termite invasion."_

" _Bummer."_

" _What about you? What could you possibly ever ask for?"_

" _I'd ask for nothing. I'm rich, I've an imp who spins straw into gold for a dad, I'm going to Dragon Hall, and soon there will be the back-to-school party that Napoleon's hosting. What on earth could I possibly ask for?"_

" _Because you never want more?"_

" _Excuse me, but Hannah South's house is on the other side of the Isle. Don't you dare tell me that we have the same hairdo," Amanda said sarcastically._

 _Jane laughed loudly. Amanda followed her as well as they walked through the tunnel and the image disappeared from the screen, ending the show._

Everyone in the auditorium was quiet and speechless.

"Well, that was interesting!" Finius said with a weak smile.


	11. The Need For A True Family

Chapter 11: The Need For A True Family

Gitane couldn't find Charles once the live show of the Isle of the Lost was over; somehow, he managed to disappear without leaving a trace. She hoped to find him in the West Wing, either doing his UNHOLY GAZETTE reports or doing his homework, but he wasn't there. Finius was briefly replacing Charles at the studio and told Gitane that Charles couldn't do the reports today and had to be excused, replaced by Finius. She then hoped that perhaps Charles had gone up at the belltower to join Avery and the gargoyles for dinner like he had done during the week. Gitane was happy that Charles was considering the daily invitations that Quasimodo and Madeleine's son gave him; she liked seeing old family feuds disappearing among the descendants.

But when she went up the belltower around 6pm, she found Avery ringing the bells as usual with the assistance of Hubert, Victoria, and Lawrence, but Charles wasn't there either.

"Finius said that Charles wasn't feeling well this afternoon," Avery said when Gitane asked him if he saw Charles. "Personally, I don't blame him. Seeing his father again live on a screen must have traumatized him. I mean, I know Frollo was abusive with my dad since he wasn't his biological son, but I can't believe he'd treat Charles ten times worse than my dad!"

 _Oh, god!_ Gitane thought in fear. _I hope he didn't kill himself!_ She searched throughout the entire school but couldn't find Charles anywhere. When she asked the other villainous kids if they had seen him, they answered the same thing: no. Thank goodness, after nearly twisting Gabriel's arm when he tried to make advances on her, Gitane got an answer from Gaston's son.

"The runt usually hides in places where he knows most people wouldn't think of finding him, especially since he's Frollo's son. Back in Dragon Hall, he'd hide under the bleachers; they have enough crap underneath to hide a runt like him. Now will you please let go? Your pulling me harder than Haya did when she was barely ten!" Gabriel answered in pain.

Gitane let go, leaving Gabriel to tend to his injured arm (thankfully not too injured to prevent him from playing Tourney), and sneaked out of the dorms and into the court wards. Nighttime had fallen and the sky was dark. As a gypsy, Gitane grew up with the habit of running around the streets and alleys when the night fell, especially in the maze full of streets in Paris.

Nobody was on the Tourney field, much to her relief. She was about to look under the bleachers until the lights from the lampposts revealed a shape sitting on the highest row of one of the bleachers: Charles. As Gitane climbed up the metallic bleachers, she sighed in relief when she reached the gray-haired boy.

"Thank goodness you're here! I nearly got sick with worry…"

"Leave me alone," Charles said quietly. Gitane was surprised, not because Charles told her to leave him alone (which she got used to during the first week and acted like she didn't hear him), but because he sounded as if he wanted to be locked up in a room where he could drown in his tears.

Charles did look like he wanted to drown: he was sitting on the bleachers while hugging his legs as if he were still a little elementary school kid who got bullied and wanted to cry. To make matters worse, his eyes were red and his cheeks were moist with tears.

"Oh, Charlesy…" Gitane whispered, shocked by the sight as she sat next to Charles and pulled out a tissue from one of her pockets and gave it to the poor boy, who silently accepted it and blew in it. "It's about your father, isn't it?"

Charles looked down in melancholy. "He never loved me, that I always knew ever since my mother died."

"What does your mother's death have to do with…" Gitane began asking.

"My father killed her."

Gitane nearly choked in horror. " _WHAT?!_ "

"He did. I was only three. I woke up hearing screams from downstairs. From what I heard, he was furious that mum lied to him about her being a gypsy. Just as I went downstairs, I watched him beat her to death. If Haya and her father hadn't been near our house during their patrols, my father would have succeeded into killing me the same way he killed mum…" Charles broke into sobs as he let his face fall into his hands. Gitane held the crying boy in her arms, hugging him the same way a big sister would to her little brother.

"He'd kill his own biological son," she whispered in disbelief. "I'm so sorry, Charlesy. I had no idea…"

"Probably because you have no idea what it's like to lose a mother, the only person on the Isle of the Lost who didn't treat me like some…vermin."

"The circumstances of how I lost mine where a bit different, I'll recognize that."

This caught Charles' attention, who looked at the Gypsy princess with curiosity. "I thought you heroes were supposed to live happily ever after in Auradon," he remarked.

"My dad was an anti-hero," Gitane said. "He was on the side of good, leading and protecting his people when your father was around, but he did nearly hung up Quasimodo and Phoebus when he thought they were Frollo's spies."

"He never told me that side of the story. But what does your mother have to do with this?"

"She left me and Dad when I was six…for another man who was much richer than Dad. She had Dad's love; she had a happy marriage with him, along with a life of festivities, opportunities to travel, and a daughter. And she gave it all up just so that she could be with some random rich guy who promised her a life of luxury."

"I'm sorry. I had no idea," Charles said quietly.

Gitane sighed peacefully. "It's alright, that was in the past. I've got the essential: a family. My friends and my gypsy clan…they're my family and that's all I could ever ask for." She looked at Charles. "You looked like you needed a family when we first met."

"That's why you were stalking me ever since day one?" Charles asked. "I've never heard of _that_ one."

"Well, I'm a crazy gypsy, just like you said," Gitane teased, causing Charles to laugh. This was the first time he actually laughed at something he didn't consider villainous. Seeing the evil judge's son laughing with the Gypsy Princess would be heartwarming for any passerby.

"Have you ever been to a fair?" Gitane asked when they calmed down.

Charles looked confused. "Fair?"

"You don't have any fun gatherings on the Isle of the Lost or did your dad prevent you from having any fun at all?" Gitane looked dumbfounded.

"The second part is correct."

"Well, a fair is like a fun place where you can do fun rides, play games in order to win cool prizes, drink and eat whatever you want, and see animals in display. It's like Happyland for people of all ages."

"Like the Festival of Fools?"

"Not as grand as the Festival of Fools, but still awesome. Anyway, there's the Auradon County Fair coming into town this weekend. Avery, a few of my gypsy peers, and I were planning to go there with Fairy Godmother's permission this Saturday. Want to come?"

Charles pondered before answering: "If it's not going to kill me…sure, why not?"

Gitane smiled. "Great! Then we'll see you tomorrow when we ask permission from Fairy Godmother together."

"That will be swell," Charles said with a grin.

Gitane got up from the bleachers. "We'd better go back to our dorms. Ever since last year's accident, Auradon Prep has a few teachers doing night patrols."

"Ten bucks say you can easy sneak past them unnoticed. Oh, wait. I can't bet since I don't have any cash on me," Charles said.

Gitane laughed. "You can be hilarious when you want to, Charles." She gave him another warm kiss on the cheek, causing Charles to blush like strawberry candy. "Sleep tight." She gently pulled away and walked down the bleachers before rushing back to the school building. As he watched her leave through the shadows, Charles was still dumbfounded when he noticed that this time, Gitane's warm kiss on his cheek was a few inches close to where his mouth is.


	12. The Auditions

Chapter 12: The Auditions

On Friday, during her free period before lunchtime, Lonnie joined Jane, Audrey, and a couple of their other friends to the auditorium to witness the audition tryouts for the _Auradon Needs Talent_ show. While they did come to see the candidates perform in front of the judges (which consisted of Aaricia, the music teacher Mr. Louie King, and the drama teacher Ms. Chimène), they especially wanted to see the Dark Rulers perform on stage.

With Mal's help, Lonnie and Jane managed to create a colorful sign that said GOOD LUCK, DARK RULERS and held it while watching the tryouts.

So far, the tryouts were pretty interesting. Some students performed hip-hop dances, juggling, mime, and ventriloquism. Gitane and her group of Gypsy Nomads actually came to show off one of their rapping songs, which seemed to please Judge King. While many people applauded, Lonnie noticed that Charles Frollo was actually sitting in the front rows, taking pictures with his cameras, and applauding for the gypsy kids. What really surprised Lonnie was that, when Gitane and her crew were done, she went to sit next to Charles and the two seemed to be laughing with one another.

"Charles seems to be getting along quite well with Gitane," Lonnie whispered to Audrey.

"I think it's cute," Sleeping Beauty's daughter sighed. "Two kids from opposing families from the same story? It sounds like Romeo and Juliet."

"You know, Gitane did tell me that she liked Charles."

"She said she liked him? Wow! But wait…isn't it the judge's kid who's supposed to go after the gypsy girl and not the other way around?"

 _Good point_ , Lonnie thought to herself. _Maybe that means that villainous kids don't have to follow their parents' footsteps._

Eleanor Malcolm came, dressed up in a ridiculous black opera dress and white opera gloves and sang the exact same opera number that Lonnie heard at every single talent show that she attended in Auradon Prep. When Eleanor was done, the judges clearly made a face that said ' _I've seen this every single time and it makes me sick'._

"I don't know which is more traumatizing," Evie said. "Eleanor's opera singing or Hannah South's banshee scream."

"Prince Hans' daughter screams like a banshee?" Jane asked.

"It's a way of saying that she screams loud enough to shatter a window."

"Well, maybe that would make the talent show a lot more interesting," Lonnie joked. The others joined her in the joke.

Finally, the Dark Rulers came and settled the required instruments: Xaos with the drums, Haya with the guitar she brought with her from the Isle, and Kory at the school's grand piano. Surprisingly, Macy didn't carry any instrument on her.

"Looks like it's going to be one of those songs where Macy is the lead singer," Evie whispered.

"So, Haya Yu, Macy Beth, Kory Lokisia, and Xaos Sethson," Judge King said. "What type of music are you bringing us from the Isle of the Lost today?"

"Usually we do a lot of rock," Haya spoke through her microphone, "but we're doing one of our slow, yet lively dedicating music for the auditions today."

"What kind of dedication?" Judge Chimène asked.

"When we depict one of our peers through everyone's perspective," Haya answered.

The judges' softly spoke to one another in contempt, agreeing that a fresh, new perspective would be nice for this year's talent show.

"Well, let's hear it then," Aaricia said encouragingly. "Oh, and does your song have a title?"

"Yep, it's called _Vampire of the Isle_."

"Oh, I know that song!" Evie whispered. "They made that song to refer Napoleon Moriarty!"

Napoleon. Lonnie remembered that name. Last Monday, during the visual of the Isle of the Lost, Amanda, the daughter of Rumplestiltskin, mentioned something about Napoleon hosting a party.

The Dark Rulers began playing: a jazz-like tune was played by Kory and Xaos gave an average beat while Macy, sitting on the piano like all those 1920s female singers that Lonnie saw on TV, began singing.

Macy: _Here's a story that many villains hear._

 _It's the one of the Vampire of the Isle._

 _He's quite a scoundrel to be near_

 _And to approach from any mile._

 _His name is Napoleon Moriarty,_

 _And believe me, he can be bloody dirty._

Kory fastened a bit with the piano as Haya introduced a six-toned, deep tune with her guitar.

Macy: _He's the son of that notorious professor,_

 _But you should listen to me confess._

 _Because while Napoleon's father is the Moriarty professor,_

 _It turns out that his mother's the Bloody Countess._

 _I guess it explains his two sided ways:_

 _Where he's the brute and the one that makes ladies' sway_

Kory joined Macy in the singing as the music got a bit livelier.

Macy and Kory: _He's the Vampire of the Isle._

 _You can never tell when you'll see the fangs in his smile._

 _Napoleon Moriarty is the Vampire of the Isle._

 _He plays with people in a way so vile._

 _So evil, so mean, so hostile,_

 _Yet so handsome is the Vampire of the Isle._

Kory: _I myself must admit that it's hard to fall for his charms._

 _Any girl would want to have their hearts get from him harms._

 _It's crazy, I know, but what can I say?_

 _Napoleon Moriarty likes to get things his way._

 _He charmed Mal once like a glamorous cavalier,_

 _And she was flooding tears for an entire year._

Haya then joined, eventually with Xaos, and the music got better.

Macy, Kory and Haya: _He's the Vampire of the Isle._

 _You can never tell when you'll see the fangs in his smile._

 _Napoleon Moriarty is the Vampire of the Isle._

 _He plays with people in a way so vile._

 _So evil, so mean, so hostile,_

 _Yet so charming is the Vampire of the Isle._

Xaos: _He's the bastard that's so mastered._

Haya: _He's a hypnotist and a hypocrite._

Xaos: _Every villain bows to him like dogs to their masters._

Haya: _And you thought Frollo was a corrupt political?_

Xaos and Haya: _He's obviously the manipulative vampire,_

 _And he enchains everything to his large empire._

The Dark Rulers: _He's the Vampire of the Isle._

 _You can never tell when you'll see the fangs in his smile._

 _Napoleon Moriarty is the Vampire of the Isle._

 _He plays with people in a way so vile._

 _So evil, so mean, so hostile,_

 _Yet so awesome is the Vampire of the Isle._

By the time they were done, everybody in the auditorium was speechless. Lonnie wanted to break into tears when she heard such an emotional song talking about a womanizing bastard as Napoleon Moriarty was described. Jane and Audrey were dumbfounded.

"That…" Judge Louie King exclaimed, "…Was…AMAZING! Never in my life have I ever heard music so dark yet so full of expressed emotions!"

"I myself am touched," Judge Chimène said. "I feel like I've been charmed the same way the girls that you described in your music were charmed by this Napoleon Moriarty."

"I told you they were good musicians," Aaricia said, giving a thumbs-up to the Dark Rulers. Kory returned the gesture.

"You bet they are going into this year's talent show!" Louie King clapped his hands together. "Even better yet, they will be meeting after school to get positions in my Auradon radio station!"

Everybody cheered in the auditorium. Lonnie and Jane wailed in excitement as they lifted the sign they made for the Dark Rulers. Charles instantly used his special camera to print out his UNHOLY GAZETTE newspapers with the headlines DARK RULERS WITH SUCCESSFUL SHOW BUSSINESS printed in bold letters. Haya and the gang were group hugging each other in order to celebrate the beginning of their music's success in Auradon.


	13. Haya Rules Tourney Period

Chapter 12: Haya Rules Tourney. Period.

"Bunch of cheaters!"

Eleanor threw a rather large, public tantrum at lunchtime. The news about the Dark Rulers' being recognized by Louie King was spread throughout the school thanks to Charles' UNHOLY GAZETTE lunchtime broadcast. Seeing four villainous kids who barely spent a week in Auradon getting more attention than she did was unbearable for the daughter of King Malcolm. It was bad enough that the daughter of her family's tyrannical cousin came to Auradon, but seeing Macy and the new villainous kids becoming popular much faster than her was just too much for Eleanor. Barely anyone would pay attention to her insisting that the Dark Rulers were probably using villainous artifacts to enchant the judges in order to get them accepted in the talent show. As for Aaricia, the daughter of Thor and Jane Foster made it clear to the Scottish princess (Eleanor, not Macy) that if she continued to bug her with such ridiculous comments or even _tried_ to get the Dark Rulers kicked out of the talent show, then she would make sure that the last part would happen to Eleanor. This definetly made Eleanor shut up and walk away rather grumpily.

If the Dark Rulers were surprised by Aaricia's sense of fair authority towards a student of royal blood, Kory Lokisia was the most impressed. Maybe she didn't expect that the daughter of her 'uncle', the god that her father Loki told her to loathe and despise, would be rather nice to her and not even mention their family history. After barely a few chats that they had after the auditions, Aaricia and Kory befriended each other as fast as the latter did with Lonnie.

Mal, on her part, was rather angry that the Dark Rulers used their song about Napoleon Moriarty for the auditions.

"You could at least have asked me if I was alright with it!" Mal snapped at lunchtime.

"We didn't think through this, Mal. I swear…we didn't mean to offend you," Kory said nervously. It was a rather sunny day outside, and since most of our main characters wanted to eat outside, Kory and Macy took the liberty of releasing Carmine and McPrince. While Carmine was busy getting stomach rubs from Aaricia, who grew rather found of the wolf, McPrince ate large, raw salmons that Macy managed to get from the kitchens.

"You think I enjoy people asking me: _'Hey Mal. Heard Mommy's girl cried in front of Napoleon Moriarty! Ha! Ha!'_?" Mal clenched her fists as she sat on the grass, pouting with an angry face worthy of Maleficent's daughter.

"I'm sure they didn't mean it, Mal," Aaricia lifted her eyes away from Carmine, much to the wolf's frustration, in order to look at Kory, Macy, and Xaos. "Right, guys?"

"I swear on the River Styx that I speak the truth when I say 'right'" Kory said, pounding her chest with her right arm. This caused Mal to chuckle a little bit.

"If I lie, may the Weird Sisters traumatize me as I sleep," Macy nodded.

"Woah, Macy!" Xaos said, backing up a bit. "Don't be that extreme! You want to end up with your mom's sleep disorder?"

Macy rolled her eyes. "She sleepwalks, Xaos. She doesn't have a sleeping disorder."

"What about sleepwalking?" The group turned to see Audrey and Jane, the latter carrying a large folder full of papers.

"Just a minor thing," Aaricia said. "So Jane, how's it going with the yearbook club?"

"It's pretty busy," Jane sighed. "We still have so much in planning, but we're going to make it. Plus, you're not going to believe it, but I got the position of writing a two-page article in the yearbook about a comet that's going to pass the Earth in a few months from now!"

"Really? That's amazing!" Macy said.

"Mal, have you seen Jay or Carlos?" Audrey asked Mal. "Jane and I have been looking for them for nearly five minutes throughout the entire school and we haven't found them at all?"

"Maybe they went to the Tourney field to practice?" Xaos said. "Gabriel said they had to do a special 'session' at lunchtime." He air-quoted the word ' _session_ ' in a way that nearly made his finger curl like the tail of his pet scorpion.

"Well it can't be for a team practice. I've been in Auradon Prep since freshman year and the Auradon Knights never practice at lunchtime due to Coach Jenkins' belief that running after eating will cause food poisoning…"

Kory chuckled. "What a belief! I bet Ingwer's mom would have given a pretty good lecture on how to poison with food if she heard that!" The other villainous kids chuckled with her.

" _ **INCOMING!**_ "

Something fell out of the sky and crash-landed near the group, creating a large patch of dirt behind it. Lonnie, who was passing by to meet the group, went into a sudden martial arts pose when the thing nearly hit her.

"What the heck was that?" she shrieked between clouds of dust. People came rushing in to see what the racket was about, and when the dusty clouds cleared, they all saw that it was none other than Gabriel, with his face buried in the dirt. Charles came running towards him, panting frantically, and took a snapshot of Gabriel with his camera.

"30 feet away from the field! This girl is mad!" Charles said as he pulled out a printed UNHOLY GAZETTE newspaper from his camera.

"What are you talking about, Charles?" Xaos asked. "Gabriel's a boy."

"Not Gabriel, Xaos." Charles handed the newspaper to Seth's son, whose eyes popped when he read the headlines.

"HAYA IS MURDERING THE TOURNEY TEAM?!" Xaos shrieked, followed by gasps from the crowd.

"Xaos, ' _murder_ ' in Hun practically means ' _show off your strength by knocking down ten people_ '," Macy rolled her eyes before addressing Charles. "Charles, what's going on?"

"Remember when Haya got berserk when she learned that there were no sport positions for girls in Auradon Prep? Well, now Chad Charming increased the heat by saying that girls, especially _Hun girls_ , weren't meant to play tourney in Auradon. Dumb mistake, because Haya made the bet that she could single-handedly beat down the entire Tourney team, all of them against her, and so far, she beat down five of them in a row, three of them including Ben, Jay, and now Gabriel."

"Holy snake!" Kory exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "We'd better get to the field before she sends the other players to the hospital!" She ran towards the Tourney field, followed by the others and a few passerbys.

" _Holy snake_?" Lonnie arched an eyebrow at Xaos as they ran.

"Evil demigod cuss words," Xaos said simply. "Plus, with the fact that one of her half-brothers is a giant snake and that her dad as to deal with leaking snake venom in Tartarus…"

"You know what? I think I get the idea," Lonnie cut in.

"Fair decision."

By the time they reached the tourney field, they were in for the shock of their lives: Haya was practically beating down the entire tourney team. She made high jumps on top of the players as they tried to get to her to no avail; she used martial art kicks and punches with only one hand while she was holding the tourney ball with the tourney club with the other hand; she judo flipped the team's defense so easily and didn't miss a single goal it.

"You win…" Chad Charming said before running away screaming like a little girl, followed by three or four other boys screaming the same way.

"This is the tourney team?" Macy frowned.

"Not the one _we_ knew, that's for sure," Mal nodded.

"Jaydee! Are you alright?" Audrey rushed towards her boyfriend, who held an ice pack on his left eye, which turned out to be a black eye. Carlos walked with Jay as he dealt with an ugly scab on his right elbow.

"This is definetly the last time I play tourney against you, Haya," Carlos groaned in pain. "THE LAST TIME!"

"Sexism comes with a price, De Vil," Haya shrugged as she pinched her fingers together. Some girls in the crowd nodded in agreement.

"Hey, you!" A voice called. Coach Jenkins entered the field and students made way for him as he walked up towards Haya, who didn't budge.

"What was _that_?" He angrily pointed at the tourney team: most of the players dealt with black eyes and scabs like Jay and Carlos. Others got their faces buried in the dirt like Gabriel and Ben. A couple of them got their bodies stuck together as if they were playing Twister.

"That was defense on my rights as a female Hun warrior," Haya said flatly. The way she spoke at the coach made most of the students, especially the villainous ones, fear the worst. But the only thing that the coach did was laughing a grin, much to Haya's surprise.

"Well I thought that was spunk, raw talent there!" He exclaimed, resting his hand on Haya's shoulder as he called out for Ben. "Ben, make a note of this! Auradon Prep just found its very first female tourney player!"

Kids cheered at the announcement. Haya clenched her fists in victory as her friends pulled her up and carried her in pride above the crowd of kids, especially girls, who praised the very first female Tourney player.


	14. Auradon County Fair And Kids

Chapter 14: Auradon County Fair and Kids

"Be safe while you're having fun, runt," Gabriel said as he helped Charles finish packing the latter's backpack.

"Gabe, I'm just going to a county fair," Charles said. The gray-haired boy zipped his bag shut before gently putting it on his back. Thanks to Avery's treatment, the scars on his back were beginning to heal pretty well; however, the still hurt.

"I'm just saying it for your sake, runt. After all, this _is_ the first time you're going to an amusement recreation that isn't school-related."

Charles nodded at Gabriel. "Thanks, Gabe. I promise to be careful. And I'll bring you back a prize." This made the son of Gaston chuckle.

Gabriel gave a quick hug to Charles before the latter went to join Gitane, Avery, and a couple of other gypsies and students at the bus that would take them to the Auradon County Fair. He watched as they climbed onto the bus and the vehicle left the school campus.

"You seem to be pretty close to Charles," Ben said as he joined Gabriel's side. One would have expected Gaston's son to tell the son of Beauty and the Beast to mind his business, but he only sighed in agreement.

"I don't know if your folks told you this, but my dad always wanted six or seven boys," Gabriel told Ben.

"My mom did." Ben nodded. "Your dad mentioned it when he tried proposing to her."

"Yeah, but my mom didn't want to. Being treated as a housewife by my dad was bad enough, but bearing him boys sounded worse." Gabriel sighed as he sat on the stoned steps. "So as soon as she gave birth to me, she took a drug that made her sterile."

"Gosh, I had no idea, Gabriel." Ben said sincerely as he sat next to Gabriel. The latter shrugged.

"Personally, I don't blame her. But the problem…was that I always wanted a sibling. Heck, I wouldn't have minded if I even had a sister! So, you know…when I met Charles in kindergarten after he dealt with the other kids' bullying…we became rather attached to one another. He became like a little brother to me."

"That's very kind of you, Gabriel," Ben said genuinely. Personally, he was touched by what he was hearing. The son of the narcissistic bully his parents always talked about in disdain had a soft spot for a boy, about three years younger than him and much weaker physically, and treat him as a family member.

Yep, there's was definetly hope for villains redeeming, after all.

 _Auradon County Fair, sometime after noon_

"Yes! Knocked oooover!" Charles chanted when the ball he threw knocked all the stacked cans down.

"Looks like we have a winner!" the guy from the stand said. He took a plush beagle from the prize shelf and handed it to Charles. "Here ya go, lad! One big plush beagle…as you deserved!"

"Thank you very much sir," Charles said as he took the toy in his hands. "Have a nice day!"

"C'mon, Charlesy! Time to take a photo!" Gitane said, pulling Charles close to her while Avery appeared next to Charles and held his phone in front of them. The trio grinned as a flash came.

"Isn't this fun?" Avery said as they walked throughout the rows of diverse stands and amusement activities.

"This isn't fun," Charles said flatly. This made Gitane and Avery stop walking. He gave them a dark glare until it turned into a jovial smile. "IT'S JOLLY!" He threw his arms in the air happily.

"Charlesy, you nearly gave me a heart-attack!" Gitane joked as she place a hand on her chest.

"Ooh, what's that?" Charles asked, pointing at a cotton candy cart, where a middle-aged woman was serving cotton candy to a little boy.

"My dear Charles, nobody in Auradon-no, in the **entire world** \- can live another day without eating a least one stick of cotton candy!" Avery walked to the stand. "Hi, may we have three sticks of cotton candy, please? Oh, and can we make it a big one for my buddy here? It's his first time eating cotton candy."

"Sure thing, honey," the lady said. While she did that, Charles put the plush beagle in his backpack. He didn't want to dirty it, for he was planning to give it to Gabriel.

"I'm glad you decided to come with us, Charlesy," Gitane said, smiling.

"So am I!" Charles said giddily. "All those things we did; the Ferris wheel, the ghost train, the house of distorting mirrors, the pizza eating, the game stands…this is more fun than anything I've ever experienced in my life!"

Gitane smiled, happy within the heart that she managed to bring happiness to the son of the awful judge. She planted another one of her pecks on the cheek to Charles, which made the grey-haired boy's cheeks flush into a pink shade pinker than the cotton candy that the lady was placing on the sticks.

"I'm glad you're happy, Charlesy," she said.

Charles chuckled nervously as the gypsy's dazzling hazel eyes stared into his maroon-colored ones. He really couldn't help it. As much as his father told him the worst about gypsies, especially about his mother, he couldn't help increasing his admiration for Gitane's kindness. Aside from Gabriel and François Tremaine, no one had ever treated him so nicely.

"Here ya go, honey," the lady said, handing Avery the cotton candy sticks. "Three cotton candy stick for you and the siblings over there. That'll be six bucks."

"What makes you think they're related?" Avery asked as he paid her.

"Eye outline. Not too hard to miss if you look carefully."

Avery looked at the lady confusingly as he went to join Charles and Gitane. Frollo's son instantly got addicted to the sticky, puffy pink candy that he eventually began pulling big chunks with his fingers and stuffing them in his mouth. Gitane giggled when Charles was over and he still had pieces of cotton candy on his lips.

"You look like you have a beard," she said as she pulled out a handkerchief with embroidered horoscope symbols from her pocket.

"Yeah, I don't think I want to become an old man yet. I'm still fourteen." Charles stayed put when Gitane used her handkerchief to gently rub off the cotton candy from his lips.

Avery watched Frollo's son staying put as Clopin's daughter rubbed him off. Judging by how Gitane treated Charles so well since they first met and the latter was mostly responding to her kindness than to her looks, he could definetly see the attraction that was developing between the two of them. Personally, Avery thought it was rather cute. It was kind of like those stories of star-crossed lovers like Romeo & Juliet, or Kovu and Kiara. Just seeing the maroon eyes of the villainous boy and the hazel ones of the gypsy princess was adorable.

 _Eye outline. Not too hard to miss if you look carefully_ , the words of the cotton candy seller suddenly rung in Avery's head.

He stared at Charles' eyes and noticed that…yes! He did have the same eye characteristics than him, Gitane, and the other gypsy kids. He had the same thin lash lines that looked as if they had been traced with a pencil; the pearl shaped tear ducts and perfect arched creases of the Romani could be seen in his eyes. Even the maroon color of his eyes looked no different than the diverse eye color shades of all the gypsies he knew.

But something was different about the gypsy eyes that Charles Frollo had: aside from the tired, black marks under them, the sclera looked like a combination of pure white and rainy grey and the corneas looked like a solid circle of dark purple. Even the pupils were unusually pitch black. Those characteristics didn't seem normal to Avery and he recalled his father Quasimodo telling him that Claude Frollo's eyes were sharp and icy blue. But Charles' were maroon and had the look that gypsies had whenever they were up to some trick.

"Let's go to the animal section!" Gitane's voice cut him off his thoughts.

"I'm in!" Charles said.

They went to the pens where the cows and horses were kept. The petting zoo really marveled Charles the most and he petted almost every single sheep and bunny that he saw.

"Hey, Gitane. Haven't you noticed something about Charles?" Avery asked Gitane as she bought a picture frame with goat design.

"What do you mean?" the Gypsy Princess frowned.

"Well, I don't know if it's just being me," Avery scratched his hair, "but I could have sworn that Charles had gypsy eyes."

"He does." Gitane said. "His mother was a gypsy."

Avery looked surprised. "Charles Frollo? Half-gypsy? Like cousin Zephyr? But how is that possible? His father hates gypsies!"

"I know. Frollo found out about it when Charles was three and he beat her to death. Charles nearly suffered the same torture." Gitane's face saddened.

"Bummer. And to think my grandmother died of a concussion and my dad was nearly thrown in a well as a baby…by Frollo." Nostalgia filled Avery until a thought popped on his head. "Wait…how exactly did gypsies get to the Isle of the Lost? When Auradon and the U.N came up with the idea of creating the island prison, France decreed that nothing that was gypsy-related would be permitted within it. So how on earth is there a half-gypsy like Charles Frollo native from the Isle?"

Gitane gave a pondering face. "I do admit that I haven't thought about it."

"Plus, I noticed something weird about Charles' eyes. I get the part where he probably got his mother's eyes, but since when do gypsy eyes include oddly gray sclera, corneas that look like dark purple circles, and pitch black pupils?"

Gitane's face looked petrified as if she had seen a specter. "No, it couldn't be. Such features only belong to dark gypsies…"

"Dark gypsies?"

"The opposite of gypsies…like you and me, our parents, and our clan. There the only ones who prove that everything that Frollo said about gypsies are true. I've never met one face-to-face, but I know their bad news. Last time we heard about them and their leader Tradaria, it was about fifteen years ago."

"Fifteen years ago…and Charles is fourteen…"

"Hey guys!"

Charles came back, but he wasn't alone: he was carrying in his arms a chocolate-colored baby goat, a kid, with black hair above the hooves and cute little horns. A red ribbon bow was tied to the goat's neck.

"Awww," Gitane cooed as she caressed the animal. "Charles, you got yourself a kid?"

"She was in the goat pens," Charles said. "Nobody really paid attention to her because she's limping on the left hind leg. Her owner said that if she wasn't sold today, then she'd be butchered. I spent all my last cash on her. It wasn't much, but the owner was glad to dispose of her."

"Charles, that's so is so sweet of you!" Gitane said. She gave the gray-haired boy a small kiss on the cheek, which made the latter blush. He made a dazed face until his goat licked him on the cheek.

"BAH!" Charles said disturbingly. "Petite Charlotte! That's enough!"

"You called your goat 'Little Charlotte'?" Avery asked.

"Why not?"

Avery scratched his head nervously. "Uh…no particular reason."


	15. Reality Show, Episode 2

Chapter 15: Reality Show, Episode 2

On Monday, the auditorium was full at lunchtime. On the second day of watching the villains from the Isle of the Lost via the crystal ball, the show was taking place at lunchtime. Students brought food from the cafeteria to eat while they watched.

"I'm still having a hard time believing that you got yourself a kid, Charles," Aaricia said from behind the seat Charles sat at. It was quite a surprise for many at Auradon Prep when Charles came back from the Auradon County Fair with Petite Charlotte. Gabriel was a bit uneasy of having a goat in the same room as his meat-loving Rufus, but after Petite Charlotte head-butted the Doberman Pinscher in the stomach, Rufus learned the hard way that he shouldn't mess with the pet of Frollo's son. When Fairy Godmother learned from Ben that Charles got a baby goat out of pity, she saw it as ' _a sign of true goodness coming from the son of the self-righteous judge'_.

Charles ignored Aaricia's remark as he stroke Petite Charlotte under her chin while she chewed on the lettuce leaf from his salad bowl. The gray-haired boy didn't restrain her. After two days of owning her since the county fair, he and the goat had grown to adore one another. He didn't even hesitate to talk about it on the UNHOLY GAZETTE, which made more students adore the little goat with the limp. Even the school nurse (who also happened to be a vet) had agreed to see if she could nurse Petite Charlotte's leg back to normal when Charles asked her if she could.

"Seriously, Ingwer's cupcakes are delicious!" Lonnie said, as she chewed on a chocolate cupcake with pink frosting. When Macy Beth sent a letter to her friend back on the Isle of the Lost telling her that she wished to share Ingwer's treats with Auradon without 'accidently poisoning them', the daughter sent a counter-spell to make the treats poison-less (of course, the spell was verified by Fairy Godmother and Merlin before it was used).

"It's nice that your friends still think about you back at the Isle even though you're in 'goody-goody' Auradon," Finius joked, making air quotes. The friends laughed. It was true that the new villains were getting a lot of heartfelt souvenirs from their friends, such as Ingwer's cupcakes, magazines on villainous fashion from Noir Du Feu, photos from Manny of all the good times he had with Macy (which made her cry uncontrollably in front of everyone), and 'flower seeds' from Florence Poison Isley.

"At least our friends bothered. Our parents…well…" Macy muttered. The Auradonian nodded in contempt: the parents hadn't really improved much from the last Mail Day. Frollo sent a recording tape reminding his son of all the punishments he'd get if he didn't achieve his 'holy' duties (hearing his father's voice was scary enough for Charles to run away screaming al the way up to the belltower. Avery struggled to get him off one the bells until one of the teachers called the fire department). Aside from her brothers' 'lucky moonstones' and a loving letter from her father, Macy's joy was decreased when she saw that Lady Macbeth sent her the award crown from when she forced her daughter into winning the 'Miss Villain Of The Year' back in 8th grade. Seth and Loki must share the same mind, because they both sent miniature idols of themselves to their son and daughter. Gabriel only got a note from his father telling him to find an attractive girlfriend that will bear Gaston fourteen grandsons.

"Speak for yourself, Macy," Haya chuckled.

From Lonnie's perspective, Shan Yu seemed to be the most caring parent among the six main ones. He sent Haya the precious sword decoration that she kept in her room back on the Isle and a letter congratulating her for proving herself to be a worthy sportsman by becoming the first female to make it to Auradon's male sport of tourney. No doubt about it: out of the ten villains who currently attended Auradon Prep, Haya Yu was the most pampered.

"If you think that she's Daddy's precious little girl, than you can imagine how her entire clan sees her," Kory told Lonnie while they were cleaning their laundry last Sunday.

"Shush! It's going to start!" Avery said. Everyone focused on the screen while Kory chanted the words: " _Dark spirits from this double dome, show me whatever is occurring in my old home!_ "

 _Darkness filled the screen. Dim light was reflected on jagged stalagmites and stalactites. The most disturbing was what appeared to be a rapid current of tar flowing through the black, earthed pathways._

"What's this?" Audrey asked disgusted.

"The Tarrian River," Mal said. "It's the only river on the Isle of the Lost. It flows both aboveground and underground…"

" _Hèàds up!"_

 _A black gondola with a lighted lantern crashed through the darkness. At the steering area was a Haitian girl of seventeen. She had black-and-blue frizzy short hair and wore an assortment of voodoo themed accessories with her fiery, red one-strapped dress. Her chunky heels were shaped like skulls. The girl was rowing the gondola with a crooked oar like a crazy car driver during rush hour._

"That's Proserpine Pitit Fi Anfèr," Macy said. "Hades' demigod daughter and the one who gave us the crystal ball."

 _So that's Proserpine_ , Lonnie thought.

 _Proserpine kept rowing crazily until the gondola approached a stoned catwalk._

" _Sèàn! Tèntàclès!"_

 _Out of the gondola sprouted four tentacles that clung on to the catwalk in order to maintain the crazy boat._

" _Àll rìght, èvèryònè!" Proserpine hopped off the gondola. "Pùt yòur fèèt òff thè gòndòlà, ànd dòn't wòrry ìf yòu lèt thè gòndòlà flòw wìth thè currènt!"_

 _Two teens stepped off the gondola. The first was a girl with dirty brown hair with slight hints of blue sprinkles. She wore a brown leather jacket with sprinkle motifs and lollipop-themed epaulettes. Her belt looked like a giant bar of chocolate and her orange trousers had several peppermint candy designs. The heels of her red shoes were shaped and colored like candy canes. No need to describe the diverse candy-themed jewelry she wearing. Lonnie watched as the candy girl wobbled on the catwalk._

" _I'm never riding a gondola just to go to the Cruella-teria ever again," she muttered. Proserpine helped her stand up straight. "Last thing I want is to get sick before it's even lunchtime!"_

" _Ìf èàtìng sìx mèàtpìès ànd tèn fòìè gràs càn't màkè yòu sìck, Ingwèr, thàn nèìthèr càn ònè cràzy gòndòlà rìde!" Proserpine said flatly._

"Is that Ingwer Hexe?" Lonnie asked. "The girl with the candy-themed attire?"

"Yep. The daughter of the Candy Witch herself," Macy said.

 _Then came Sean- as Proserpine called him- and he was so much different than the girls. His skin was purple and his greyish hair was gelled up upward into a Mohawk haircut. Above his purple tank top was a sleeveless black biker's jacket with designs of purple octopus tentacles going downward from the shoulders. His black jeans had purple designs of flowing ink and his sneakers were purple-and-white. The only accessories he wore were purple handcuff bracelets, a necklace with an octopus pendant, and a purple belt with a belt shaped like a golden conch shell._

" _I hope I don't throw up," Sean yelped as he stepped onto the catwalk and held a hand over his mouth. Proserpine rolled her eyes as she snapped her fingers and a red flame appeared in her hand._

" _Yòur mòm's Ursulà thè Sèà Wìtch," she said as she led Ingwer and Sean through a tunnel. "Yòu càn't bè sèàsìck!"_

" _OK, let's not think about this ghastly gondola ride and think more about lunch," Ingwer said, calming the other two villains. "I wonder what's going to be on the menu today, because personally, I could go for a roasted baby."_

Shuddering was heard from the Auradonian crowd. Lonnie did feel uneasiness in her stomach when she heard that the daughter of the Candy Witch ate babies.

" _Really?" Sean asked. "Then feel free to take Stacy and Millie for your next dinner."_

" _SEAN! There your sisters!" Ingwer cried in shock._

" _What?" Sean said defensively. "I've already got eight little sisters with my mom Ursula, and eight female cousins and one male cousin with my Auntie Morgana. Do you have any idea of how many sleepless nights I have? The number of diapers I had to change since I was five? The masses of chores I had to do when my sisters framed me for a misfit I didn't do?" He put his hands on his sides and made a painful groan. "My sides are still sore from having to do Becky's laundry."_

" _Dò àll òf yòur sìstèrs' nàmès ènd wìth 'ee'? Proserpine asked as they approached a door._

" _Stacy, Millie, Becky, Lily, Mary, Naomi, Amy, and Emily," Ingwer counted with her fingers._

" _Yòu knòw àll òf thèm?" Proserpine extinguished her flame before opening the door._

" _I do a lot of baby-sitting," Ingwer shrugged, giving a quick wink to the son of the Sea Witch, who blushed with a slight hint of light purple on his cheeks._

"Ten bucks says he has a crush on her," Finius teased.

"Gee, most of us already noticed it since middle school," Haya replied sarcastically.

 _The trio entered what appeared to be the inside of a humongous tavern. It was about four stories tall, with four floors filled with dark booths and tables occupied by numerous villainous children eating food that made Lonnie want to throw up, gossiping, arguing, and snickering. The main attractions on the floor were the trio was at right now were a bar full of alcohol bottles tended by a very ugly average sized man and a small, empty performing stage._

"Wow. The Cruella-teria still looks the same," Carlos said.

" _This_ is _your_ version of a cafeteria?" Audrey asked disgusted.

" _I'll go get us a spot," Ingwer said. "You guys gonna check out the menu?"_

" _Yep. And don't worry, we'll make sure that they serve child meat," Sean nodded._

 _Proserpine and Sean headed for the bar while Ingwer gazed at the area she was in: no sign of a spare table. She went up a dragon-carved staircase that led to the floor up ahead. When Ingwer got there, she saw that most of the tables and booths were occupied as well…until she saw one booth in particular with a girl sitting on it._

"Uh, guys?" Charles asked. "Do we know this girl?"

"No, I don't believe we have," Macy frowned.

"Maybe she's new?" Lonnie suggested.

 _Ingwer walked to the girl. "Hi."_

 _The girl lifted her head in surprise, revealing to have pierced eyebrows and a nose ring. She had pixie brown hair gelled backwards. This girl must have been a cat fan, since she wore a grey sweater showing a large cat silhouette, a blue mini-skirt with cat head designs, a purple cat pendant, and purple heeled shoes that looked like purple cats. The only non-cat attires were the purple-and-dark-blue fishnets she wore around her calves, a giant fishnet handcuff bracelet of the same colors on her left arm, a dark blue fingerless glove on her right hand, and long red fake nails._

" _Uh…hi?" the girl asked._

" _Are you new? I'm just asking because…well, everyone knows one another at Dragon Hall," Ingwer said, shrugging her shoulders._

" _Oh. Well, yes…I am new." The girl gave a sad look. Lonnie felt pity for her: the girl must have spent her entire life in Auradon and now, for some unknown crime, she ended up on the island prison. Ingwer had a considerate look of pity on her face as well._

" _You know, if that's alright with you, my friends and I could have lunch with you," Ingwer said. "That way, you won't feel left out on your first day."_

 _The girl's face brightened. "Really?"_

" _Why not?" Ingwer held out her hand. "I'm Ingwer Hexe. Daughter of the Candy Witch and an ogre."_

" _Wow! I never knew the Candy Witch had a daughter!" the girl said excitedly as she shook Ingwer's hand. "I'm Ruby Kyle, Catwoman's daughter."_

"The _Catwoman?" Ingwer sat on the booth. "As in Gotham's sneakiest jewel thief with nine lives?"_

" _Yeah. Although now she's got only five left."_

" _Did we hear something about Gotham?"_

 _Sean and Proserpine had arrived, struggling to carry large dishes with them. Ingwer and Ruby helped them place out the meals on the booth table: Proserpine had taken bone broth, Sean had polyp purée, and Ingwer had a human baby roast. Ruby made a slightly disgusted face._

"OK, that looks disgusting," Doug said.

"We practically eat Auradon's garbage," Jay said.

" _Guys, this is Ruby." Ingwer said, motioning Ruby to Sean and Proserpine. "She's Catwoman's daughter. Ruby, this is Sean, the son of Ursula, and Proserpine, Hades' demigod daughter. Ruby's new in town…"_

" _And by town, she means the Isle of the Lost, because there isn't room anywhere on this island for villages or cities and that kind of stuff you'd find in Auradon," Sean pointed as he took a large chunk of polyp purée with his spoon and forced it in his mouth. Squishy sounds were heard as he chewed the purée with his teeth._

" _Yòu'll hàve tò èxcusè Pòlyp Bràìns hèrè," Proserpine said, giving Sean an annoyed look while she was clenching her soupspoon. "Ànywày, wèlcòmè tò thè Islè òf thè Lòst."_

" _Your accent sounds Creole," Ruby said curiously._

" _Will you look at that, Proserpine," Ingwer teased as she impaled the stomach of her baby roast with a knife and began digging in it. "Finally somebody who doesn't think that your accent is from South Africa!" She forcefully pulled her knife out; a round piece of meat was stuck on it. "Ooh! Kidney!" She used her spare fingers to remove the kidney and throw it in her mouth._

" _Sorry if we're disgusting you with our meal so far," Sean said sincerely. He had completely eaten his purée. "We don't exactly eat normal food here. And by 'we', I mean every single villain on the Isle."_

" _Nah, s'OK." Ruby shrugged it off as if it were nothing. "I used to live in the alleys back in Gotham with my mom. Catnip and dumpster leftovers aren't new to me._

" _Strèètwìsè," Proserpine said impressively in between each sip of her bone broth. "Ì lìkè thàt."_

 _Ruby gave a thankful nod._

" _So have you met the other supervillainous kids here on the Isle?" Ingwer asked Ruby while she struggled to pull out her roast's intestines._

" _There others like me?" Ruby asked surprised. The others were just as surprised as her: Proserpine nearly choked a rib; Sean spit whatever was that black liquor he was drinking; Ingwer stopped her dissection._

" _How on earth did you manage to_ not _meet your supervillainous peers?" Ingwer asked in disbelief. "There are like five here at Dragon Hall. Poison Ivy's daughter Florence Poison Isley is here…"_

"Poison Ivy's daughter sent you flower seeds?" Avery asked in shock.

"You got a problem with that?" Haya asked.

" _We also have Penny Cobblepot, the daughter of the Penguin," Sean joined in._

" _Mystèrè Dàrkhòlmè, Mystìquè's sòn," Proserpine cut in._

" _Ben Tron, son of Ultron," Sean added._

" _And their leader Noir Du Feu, the daughter of Blackfire herself!" Ingwe finished. Ruby looked so happy._

" _I didn't know there were other supervillains on the Isle of the Lost!" she said giddily. "When can I see them?"_

" _Depends on which classes you have with them," Sean said._

 _Ruby pulled out a multi-colored handbag from underneath the booth and began looking through her stuff until she pulled out what appeared to be a paper with purple dragon designs and a class schedule printed on it._

" _Let's see. Mondays: I have Unfair Negotiation at eight…"_

" _Good grief," Sean groaned. Ingwer and Proserpine made similar noises._

" _Yeah, that class sucked for me," Ruby said in agreement. "Then, Home Egyptonomics at nine. Seriously though, who wants to learn on how to use removed body organs during mummification?"_

" _Bèàts mè," Proserpine said. "Èvèn Xàòs Sèthsòn dìdn't lìkè ìt. Ànd hìs fàthèr wàs Sèth."_

Xaos chuckled, embarrassed.

" _Darts and Crafts at ten."_

"That was a cool class," Mal said.

" _Animal Abuse-I hated that one- at eleven. Then, it's lunch at noon. And apparently I have two hours of Botanical Biochemistry starting at one…"_

" _Wait!" Ingwer said. "I know that Florence takes that class on Mondays at the same time as you! Maybe you'll get to see her!"_

" _Yes!" Ruby clenched her fists in victory. "Then, my final class is Wicked Bakery at two."_

" _Well what do you know," Sean chuckled. "You're having Wicked Bakery at the same time as me and Ingwer. Hopefully your mom won't want to cook her." He eyed Ingwer teasingly. The latter made an unamused face._

" _Gee, like my mom would want to make an epic display in Wicked Bakery class," Ingwer grumbled._

" _What does the Candy Witch have to do with Wicked Bakery?" Ruby asked._

" _Ingwèr's mòthèr ìs thè Wìckèd Bàkèry tèàchèr àt Dràgòn Hàll," Proserpine explained to Ruby._

" _Your mom's a teacher?" Ruby looked at Ingwer, who made a grumpy nod. "That's pretty cool! I'm willing to bet that you're her favorite student!"_

" _Oh sure, because favoritism is just the thing that teachers share a lot around here!" Ingwer snapped before slumping her face on the table while Ruby looked at Sean and Proserpine with confusion._

" _A lot of the teachers here are parents of some of the students at Dragon Hall," Sean explained. "So of course, to keep their family's image, the kids put their best efforts in the class that their parents teach, which causes parental favoritism and…a few disagreements. Ingwer's the best student at Wicked Bakery, alright, but most people think that she's just doing it to please the Candy Witch while she's actually a very talented chef." Ingwer gave a small look of gratitude to Sean, who gladly returned it._

"That was so sweet of Sean," Gitane said.

" _But…doesn't the Candy Witch already love Ingwer? Aside from being her best student?" Ruby asked._

" _She does," Ingwer said quietly. "She does show it. But I wish she wouldn't show so much love while I'm at school."_

" _Consider yourself lucky," Sean said flatly. "My mom keeps pestering me for my 'teenage hormones' and why am I always the one she condemns to the chores unlike my eight little sisters?"_

" _Sounds like quite a litter," Ruby joked hesitantly._

" _You have no idea." Sean rolled his eyes._

And to that the screen went black.


	16. Lonnie Learns From Haya

Chapter 16: Lonnie Learns From Haya

Lonnie spent the next Thursday afternoon after class punching on the boxing bags dangling from the gymnasium one at a time. It had been a rather frustrating day for her.

First, right when she woke up in the morning, she was horrified to see that the wool sweatshirt that her great-grandmother made for her had become Carmine's new chew toy. It had taken about half an hour for her and Kory to tug the sweatshirt away from the wolf's fangs until the sweatshirt ripped in half. Lonnie was anxious on what she would tell her great-grandmother when Lonnie returned to China for the Christmas break; Kory punished her wolf severely by 'pounding' Carmine to the dorm and no leaving for a week.

"You're sure that you aren't being rough?" Doug asked when he and Xaos passed the girls' dorm while they were on their way to the showers.

"Tough love is still love," Kory said while she was helping Lonnie pick up the remaining pieces of the sweatshirt. "Now, thanks to Carmine, I have to do some shopping during my free period before lunch."

"You don't have to do this," Lonnie said, but the daughter of Loki wouldn't want to hear another word.

Then, she had gotten a C- on her test in Auradon History. Although Mr. Roger told her that he was positive that she could improve her 'average' grade, Lonnie didn't feel like her C- brightened her day after the incident with Carmine and her sweatshirt. To make that worse, Eleanor Malcolm made Lonnie feel worse by how she couldn't even do better than her friends from the Isle of the Lost, including Haya Yu. And Eleanor wasn't wrong: out of the twenty students in Lonnie's Auradon History class, Haya, Kory, and Xaos were among the ten students who got above B+, with Kory and Xaos both getting A+, which resulted with Mr. Roger's favoring them, and Haya getting an A-. Haya managed to beat the entire Tourney team and now the daughter of Shan Yu had beaten Mulan's daughter in a test; Lonnie really didn't like it. If one was trying to show she was superior to the other, than she could throw her chances of being friends with Haya through the window.

Then, Lonnie was publicly humiliated when the UNHOLY GAZETTE's newspaper showed a picture of Lonnie and Kory, in their PJs, struggling to tug her sweatshirt away from Carmine. Kids laughed at the sight of the picture when the newspaper was distributed at lunchtime. Lonnie was furious to the point of clenching her cup and wishing Charles Frollo dead.

"Welcome to the club of being humiliated by Charles," Jay said. He gave her a small metallic club. "For the sake of your revenge, use this to hit him on the head."

"Won't that kill him?" Lonnie asked.

"Nah. He'll just go cuckoo."

Ah heck! Who was Lonnie kidding? The rest of the day just went wrong, with people teasing her about the sweatshirt picture and her friends not being able to keep her company for the sake of comfort because of after school activities (one of them being the Dark Rulers going to King Studios in order to get their music broadcasted live on almost every single radio station in Auradon). Sometimes Lonnie wished that she wasn't some…farmer's granddaughter from another country and instead was the daughter of a wealthy, famous royal, like Audrey and a majority of the princesses here in Auradon Prep.

Lonnie kept angrily punching and kicking the boxing bags using her martial art skills until she let one punch sink in the last boxing bag. An exhausted sigh came from her mouth.

And some sort of slow tempo was heard.

Lonnie turned to see Haya leaning on the door leading out of the gymnasium. That Hun girl just seemed to love black and cream colored clothes clashing with one another: today, she was wearing a black biker's jacket (with animal pelts at the end of the sleeves) over the tank top she wore on the day she arrived at Auradon Prep, half-black and half-cream colored jeans, and black biker's boots. Her orange-feathered necklace hung around her neck.

"So either you're practicing for the competition of poor martial artist or I'm guessing your anger matches your skills?" Haya joked.

Lonnie gawked at Haya in disbelief. After half-a-month of barely interacting with one another, except for Haya to make sarcastic comments that Lonnie occasionally agreed on, the Hun was actually making fun of Lonnie.

"Depends," Lonnie said, imitating Haya's attitude. "And what about you? Aren't you supposed to be at King Studios with the rest of your band?"

Haya arched an eyebrow. Just seeing that thick eyebrow frown like a wolf hungry for its prey made Lonnie wish that she hadn't said anything. She waited for Haya to strike, but the Hun girl just laughed.

"You really are hilarious!" Haya grinned as she dusted away a tear. "We only sung one song for Mr. King to start are first broadcasting day, and when I came back and heard punching sounds, I almost thought it was that Not-So-Charming Chad trying to be tough, but instead I find the girl of lady who threw a rocket at my dad!"

"Technically, it was a firework rocket…" Lonnie began, but Haya cut her off.

"I don't see the difference," Haya replied flatly.

That did it for Lonnie. She took several deep breaths before returning her frustration to the nearest boxing bag. Just as her right fist aimed for the bag, a gray-skinned hand appeared out of nowhere and clenched it. Lonnie looked up to see Haya standing between her and the bag. How the hell did she make it all the way here at such speed?

"And I'm not seeing the resemblance either," Haya said. Without the slightest blink, she spun Lonnie's arm counter clock-wise, causing the Chinese girl's body to spin before hitting the ground in less than five seconds. Lonnie winced in pain while Haya stood in front of her with her arms crossed.

"What do you mean you're 'not seeing the resemblance'?" Lonnie asked as she struggled to get up.

"My dad said that your mom defeated him through ruse over force and not the other way around," Haya said. "I would have assumed that this advantage went to Mulan's daughter as well, but I guess I was wrong. All I'm seeing right now is a teenage girl who's acting like she can punch her way out of everything."

"I don't suppose _you_ have a thing or two to teach me?"

"I know seven things you should know. Get in your initial fighting position."

Lonnie stood up straight and put herself in the martial art position that she was taught to use in order to commence a fight during her summer camp lessons. She leaned on her left knee while she stretched her right leg; she held out her right arm ahead of her and her left one above her in a curved, yet perfect, position. Haya didn't budge.

Lonnie then made her aim for Haya, trying to punch her on the head with her right fist. The Hun girl instantly caught her fist and began to aim for Lonnie's stomach with her spare arm. The latter managed to avoid the strike by grabbing Haya's arm with her left one, but she didn't expect Haya to kick her in the stomach with her knee, which made Lonnie fall to the ground again.

"First thing you should know is how to use to advantage of the unexpected," Haya said as she grabbed Lonnie's arms in order to pull her back up. "Your opponent will always think that your head or stomach is your main target, but you actually want to distract them long enough for you to send in the blow. Redo."

Lonnie gasped for air before taking her initial position. Thinking of what her father taught her about striking chi, she knew what she was going to do. First, she tried punching for Haya's head, which the latter avoided. The Hun girl tried to punch Lonnie in the stomach; Lonnie shielded herself by striking away Haya's punch with her right arm. However, right when Lonnie began to aim her left fist for Haya's chest, the latter kicked Lonnie in the groin, making Lonnie hold it in pain and become an easy target for Haya to hit her on the back with only one open hand.

"The second thing is how to use your opponent's technique against them. A taste of his own medicine, if you prefer. You tried to block my heart chakra in order to reduce my stamina. A good technique, but once I saw your intention, I used it against you with the use of the root chakra blocking to unstabilize you."

It went on. The third thing was to tire the opponent in order to knock him out by hitting on the heels. The fourth and fifth were both related since they involved breathing properly in order to fuel the brain well so that you could use it to your advantage. The six was to analyze the opponent's attacks in order to figure out what the weakest points were and the seventh was to control emotions in order to avoid losing focus.

"You really are tough at this," Lonnie said as she dropped herself to the ground, dehydrated and out of breath. Haya quietly sat down next to her and pulled out a green canteen with a falcon design on it; she uncorked the bottle and held it in front of Lonnie's mouth, pouring some sort of yellow liquid from it. It tasted both strong and salty, like the failed dumplings her father made once when she was little. Still, the liquid was actually not unpleasant. What really stroke Lonnie was what Haya was doing: she had practically beaten her in martial arts and here she was pouring a drink in Lonnie's mouth as if the latter was still a baby needing a bottle of milk. And Lonnie didn't prevent her or anything.

"Thanks. What was that stuff?" Lonnie asked when Haya stopped pouring the liquid in her mouth and started pouring a little bit on a handkerchief that she pulled out of her jacket.

"Hun rum," Haya answered. She pressed the handkerchief on Lonnie's forehead. Feeling the rum moisturizing her forehead felt a lot better than it did in her mouth. "My clan uses it to keep themselves hydrated."

"It's not **real** rum, is it?"

"Nope." Haya stopped wiping Lonnie. "But since any rum is worth five hundred bucks at the black market on the Isle of the Lost and the Huns are usually compared to mountain barbarians, we call it rum."

"Sorry," Lonnie said guiltily.

"Nah, it's nothing. But since I didn't know if they would allow 'fake rum' in Auradon, I had to smuggle it by hiding the bottles in Xaos' drum set…"

"Not the rum. The part of your people being called barbarians."

Haya frowned. "Why would you be sorry about that? The Huns invaded China, burned villages and killed innocent people. My dad Shan Yu tried to slice your emperor in pieces and impale your mom when he found out she was the one who destroyed his one thousand-men army!"

Haya's voice rose when she mentioned the part of Mulan burying the Hun army in an avalanche. Lonnie was a bit afraid of Haya's temper right now, but she understood. Why wouldn't Shan Yu's daughter have any disdain for the woman who prevented Shan Yu's chances of ruling China and killed him just so that he'd eventually be revived just to live in an island prison for the rest of his, his family and clan's life?

"People may think the Huns were barbaric, but that doesn't necessarily mean they were and still are today. Your dad tried to invade another nation; who says that Auradon, China, and the other kingdoms didn't do the same when expanding their domains? The Huns were said to have killed thousands of people. Imagine the total of casualties heroes caused during their battles. Even my own mom killed an entire army. I've been told before that villains don't love their kids, but I refused to believe so. It might not be my place to judge, but I could tell throughout your stay at Auradon Prep that Shan Yu really cares for you. Just like you do for him."

Lonnie stopped her monologue when she heard sniffing. She turned to see Haya start shedding tears for the first time since she met her.

"Haya, I'm so sorry. I-I didn't mean to…" Lonnie began.

"I'm finally seeing the resemblance," Haya sniffed. "A worthy, selfless woman."

Lonnie gave a small smile. "Thank you, Haya." She watched as the Hun girl tried to rub away her tears in order to keep her image of dignity.

"I'm seeing another difference, though. I'd…" Haya took a break in between sniffs. "I'd rather have you as a worthy friend than a worthy opponent, Lonnie."

Lonnie's eyes glimmered in happiness when she heard Haya wishing to be her friend and calling her by her name after two weeks of not doing so. She got up and held out her hand at Haya. "I'd like that very much," she said.

The Hun girl let a grin escape as she took her new friend's hand and got up, leaving the gymnasium with her.


	17. Dawn's Breaker

Chapter 17: Dawn's Breaker

Gitane woke up screaming: "NO!"

The gypsy girl panted frantically when she looked around to make sure that her nightmare wasn't real. Seeing the sight of her homely corner in the West Wing gave her little relief, for she was still recovering from her nightmare.

Ever since Avery had told her at the county fair that he was sure he saw the eyes of the dark gypsies in Charles, Gitane had nightmares of the evil counterparts of her people. Dark gypsies were the complete opposite of her kind, light gypsies. While light gypsies used their cunning and tricks to bring joy and festivities to others, dark gypsies were rotted thieves, murderers, practitioners of dark magic, and sinful beasts. In other words, they were the living advertisement of Judge Frollo's racism towards gypsies.

This time, however, Gitane dreamed that the entire world was in purple flames; people were in chains; her father and clan wasn't spared; precious places like Auradon Prep and Notre-Dame were in ruins; Judge Frollo's corpse was crucified on a silver cross rising above the flames; and Charles Frollo, bearing a horned silver crown and dressed in a high-collared black robe that dark gypsy priests wore, was sitting on a black throne, cackling evilly while an army of dark gypsies bowed before him.

Gitane got up from her mattress and went to her makeshift shower area, where she took a very cold shower, letting the cold water rinse away the irrational idea of Charles Frollo being half-dark gypsy.

 _He couldn't be a dark gypsy_ , she told herself as she dried herself. _He's far too sweet and kind to be one._

But he was Frollo's son after all. And all that was said was that Charles mother was a gypsy. There was no reference to whether or not she was a dark or light gypsy. Plus, despite his apparent child-like nature, Charles Frollo didn't seem to be taken seriously by the other villainous kids, excluding Gabriel. And it didn't seem like they disliked him just because he spread gossip that they disapproved of. Gitane had seen how they interacted with him: the demigods gave him death glares, Jay and Carlos stepped back whenever they thought Charles was going to say something aggressive, Macy and Evie ignored him with a hint of disgust, Mal completely avoided him, and Haya looked like she wanted to kill him. Only Gabriel didn't seem like he wanted to go against Charles, mostly because they were best friends.

Once Gitane put on some clean clothes, she went to pull the curtains and open the large window in the West Wing. The glorious orange, pink, and blue glow of the Sunday dawn filled the place with amazing lights. Seeing the sun rising reminded Gitane of those times when she was younger and she and Avery would sneak up the belltower of Notre Dame to see the city of Paris brighten with the early rays of the day.

Gitane walked outside on the window's balcony, reveling at the feeling of the wind blowing in her hair and the sight of dawn in front of her eyes. She sighed in happiness until she heard some sort of faint music. She frowned in confusion and held out her ear in order to listen more carefully: no doubt about it, it sounded like gypsy music and it came from the top of the belltower.

She walked towards the angelic gargoyle and used the secret knock to make the ladder appear. After a long climb, she managed to arrive at the balcony that led to Avery's belltower. To her surprise, she found Hubert, Victoria, and Lawrence on the balcony, leaning on her right side.

"Hey, guys!" Gitane said. "What's up?"

"Shush!" Victoria said, placing a stony finger on Gitane's lips. "We're trying to listen!"

"Is it the same music that I heard?"

"Most likely."

"I didn't know that Avery played music in the morning…"

"Avery is still sleeping," Hubert said quietly. "But our other friend isn't." He pointed to the belltower's neighbor tower. Gitane squinted and saw a familiar figure sitting on the tiled roof of the tower: it was Charles, playing a violin carved from black wood. Gitane was astonished: she didn't know that Charlesy played music. She also didn't think of the possibility that he even played gypsy music. And the way he played it! The sounds that he created from the cords felt like flowing magical; the tune sounded mystical as if it was trying to slink into Gitane's soul.

Charles:

 _Dawn's Breaker, you morning's myrmidon,_

 _Thy who carries Eos' guidon._

 _Let your last remains of darkness_

 _Guide those so heartless._

 _So sweet is thee sense of bitterness,_

 _So cruel is thee sense of forgiveness._

 _Dawn's Breaker, I'm just a dark gypsy._

 _My soul is full of vices so misty._

 _Dawn's Breaker, won't thy cleanse my soul_

 _From virtues seeking to fill mine empty hole?_

 _Dawn's Breaker, in Tradaria's name,_

 _See that my blood is thicker than sangria._

 _Thy children have suffered from the unholy angel._

 _Thy children died from hellfire's devil._

 _Tradaria, thy daughter, our mother, mine the most,_

 _Has become our saint, our holy ghost._

 _Dawn's Breaker, Queen Tradaria has died long ago_

 _At the hands of our enemy, the arrogant Frollo._

 _Dawn's Breaker, I pray thee, help me._

 _Make sure that we dark gypsies are set free_

 _From the curse that is Frollo being alive._

 _Make him be punished and help us thrive._

 _If his fall must me done by one's hands,_

 _Then I'd be willing to end his plans._

"Wow! He is quite the singer and violinist!" Hubert commented.

"A little edgy on the part of dark gypsies," Victoria commented, "but I guess it's just part of musical tradition from the Isle of the Lost."

"What do you think, Gitane?" Lawrence turned to ask Clopin's daughter, only to realize that she wasn't there anymore. As soon as Charles was done singing, she had managed to sneak back to the ladder and climb back down to the West Wing, shedding tears in the process.

She couldn't believe that Avery's doubts were correct! Charles Frollo, the son and contrast of Judge Claude Frollo, the boy she grew to love ever since she laid eyes on him on the first day, was half dark gypsy! And to crown it all, she just heard him sing on how he wished to kill Frollo in order to free the dark gypsies and called Tradaria, the leader of dark gypsies, his mother. She just didn't want to believe it!

She arrived on the balcony of the West Wing and ran inside, crying, until she accidently bumped into something.

"Gitane?"

The gypsy princess lifted her eyes to see Charles in front of her, looking both shocked and nervous.

"How did you manage to get all the way down the tower?" Gitane asked. For the first in a long while, her hazel eyes had an angry glare at Charles. The gray-haired boy knew instantly that she had heard him.

"Not you too…" his voice began breaking.

"Not me what?" Gitane demanded.

"I should have guessed it," Charles began to sound angry as well. "You don't care if I'm even half-gypsy or Frollo's pathetic son! As soon as you found out my gypsy roots came from dark gypsies, you'd have rejected me like everyone else back on the Isle of the Lost!"

"What?" Gitane was confused. "Charles, that's not…"

"It was always the same," Charles said. He was now getting angrier by the second. " 'Go away, son of Frollo!' 'Go away, dark gypsy hybrid!' 'Hey, Frollo Frump! You should be with your pals the dark gypsies!' My father and his minions kept calling me 'Gypsy Boy', my peers insulted me because my father had a child with someone from the race he loathed the most, and my clan of dark gypsies only let me in because I was Tradaria's son and an immediate access to finally dispose of my father! Everyone made it clear that no matter where I go, I'd always be reprimanded for my double heritage! I knew that most of the Auradonians wouldn't want me mostly because I'm a Frollo, but I don't know what made me think that you, Avery, and the other gypsies would ever accept me despite my maternal side!"

"Charles! If you had just told me before that you were part dark gypsy, then maybe I would have been more understanding!"

"What proof do you have that you wouldn't have treated me like dirt if I told you the truth before?" Charles pointed an accusing finger at Gitane. The latter looked dumfounded until she officially became exasperated. She grabbed Charles' hand, surprising him as she dragged him towards her pulled him into a kiss. The half dark gypsy was petrified, for he didn't know how to respond to Gitane's sudden gesture. Yet…the touch of her lips felt so good when they went above the mere pecks on the cheeks. The scent of violets and chocolate reached his nose as the wind came from the open window and blew threw Gitane's hazel curls. Such a wonderful sensation! Why did it remind him so much of Tradaria's maternal love for him?

Gitane let go, much to his disappointment, and Charles ended up love-dazed from the sudden experience, wobbling as he unleashed lovesick sighs.

"I confirm what I said on day one," he said woozily. "You are going to be the death of me…" And he fainted on the floor right when Finius came inside to bring more papers for the UNHOLY GAZETTE newspaper. He looked in confusion as Gitane tended to an unconscious Charles.

"What exactly did you do to him?" Finius asked.

"I think I overwhelmed him with too much love," Gitane said nervously.


	18. Lonnie Gets Villainous Fashion

Chapter 18: Lonnie Gets Villainous Fashion

"How come Charles didn't do the UNHOLY GAZETTE broadcasting today?" Ben asked on Monday at lunchtime after Finius came back from doing the noon announcements on the UNHOLY .

"He's still in the infirmary," Finius said. He looked at Gitane, who had joined the group for lunch today. "Apparently, he's in some sort of 'emotional trauma', as the nurse put it."

"I told you it was an accident!" Gitane said defensively. "I didn't think he'd faint after…" She didn't dare to mention the part of her kissing Charles.

"Let me guess," Haya said in between mouthfuls of her chicken noodle soup. "You kissed him."

Everyone at the table looked at Gitane in shock. Even Gabriel accidently spit the tonic soda from his mouth onto Xaos, who gave him a death glare.

"How did you know that?" Gitane asked nervously.

"You think I don't know what couples kissing smell like?" Haya asked. "Believe me, I run into it all the time. Very nauseating."

"Hey!" Kory said indignantly.

"What? I am more of a single lady and you know that!"

"We respect your wishes, Haya," Mal said. "Please respect ours."

Haya shrugged.

Meanwhile, Gabriel seemed the least amused among everyone else at the table. "Just exactly how did you manage to make the runt faint by kissing him, Gitane?" His eyes had a rather sharp glare right now and it made Gitane uncomfortable.

"I told you it was an accident," Gitane said between her teeth.

"You sure? I mean, judging by your parents' history…" He didn't finish, for Macy just arrived on the scene and hit him with her heavy Redemptial Goodness book, knocking out Gaston's son; his face landed on his juicy steak.

"I can't believe you just did that!" Lonnie said in shock.

"What? It's not the first time you saw me hitting Gabriel, Lonnie," Macy said defensively.

"Yeah, but not towards the point of you hitting him and knocking him out!"

"You have to excuse Macy's attitude," Kory quickly told Ben. "She's got…a bad history with Gabriel."

"Well, looks like I'd better get Gabriel to the infirmary," Ben said. He got up and began carrying Gabriel to the infirmary. Jay went up to help him.

"First Haya, then Charles, and now Gabriel," Carlos chuckled. "Soon Auradon Prep is gonna think that the new villains are bringing an epidemic!"

"Ha ha," Macy said sarcastically.

"I can't believe that Gabriel thought I was trying to harm Charles just because Frollo had almost burned my dad and the other gypsies!" Gitane pouted.

"Charles and Gabriel are best friends," Xaos said. "They knew one another since evil kindergarten. Plus, he's got rights to have doubts. I mean, take Mal and Audrey for instance: Maleficent cursed Sleeping Beauty and tried to kill the prince. That's a logical explanation for the grudge between their daughters. So how is it any difference between the child of a gypsy who was hunted by Frollo and Frollo's son?"

"The same way I'm Dopey's son dating the Evil Queen's daughter?" Doug asked teasingly as he received a wink from his girlfriend.

"Uh, I mean…" Xaos began.

"And Ben is somewhat friends with Gabriel?" Audrey added in.

"I…"

"Am I not friends with Macbeth's daughter even though my dad was responsible for his arrest?" Finius joined in. Macy rolled her eyes.

"Your girlfriend is becoming BFFs with Aaricia, Thor's daughter," Lonnie said.

"And you and I are FNFs," Haya grinned. She and Lonnie gave each other friendly high fives.

"FNFs?" Jane asked.

"Friends Not Foes," Haya and Lonnie said in unison.

Xaos gave a grumpy face. "Alright, you win! I was wrong…" He crossed his arms and pouted. Kory giggled at the sight of her boyfriend's grumpy attitude, so she playfully pinched his cheek.

"Don't be so glum, Snicky," she joked. "Everybody makes mistakes." Gitane snorted and most of the others at the table snickered.

"Please don't call me Snicky," Xaos said. He stopped when the daughter of Loki kissed his cheek; the son of Seth ended up blushing like a red tomato.

"Too late."

Just as Gabriel (with an ice pack) and Jay came back (Ben stayed at the infirmary to see how Charles was doing), the mail then came and the villainous children decided to instantly open theirs. Gabriel surprisingly didn't get anything from Gaston; instead he got a letter from his mother, who was saying that she was dealing with marital issues and missing her son. Knowing that Charles wouldn't want to see what his father sent him, Gabriel decided to open it for him, only to come face-to-face with a horrible Frollo version of Uncle Sam saying 'I need you to stop acting like a gypsy' in red letters.

"Charles' dad really has no sense of fatherhood," Gitane scoffed when she saw the picture. Everyone else nodded.

Xaos and Kory got letters from their relatives. Macy's brothers sent her the marble collection that she had been creating since she was ten. When Finius asked her since when she was into marbles, she shot daggers at Gabriel by replying that Gaston's son had tried breaking into her room while she was sleeping and therefore needed to 'enforce' the security.

"Yes! Dad sent me my lucky falcon!" Haya said excitedly as she pulled out a golden statue of a peregrine falcon in flight.

"I hope that your lucky falcon is better than my great-grandmother's lucky cricket," Lonnie said, shuddering at the thought of the old lady insisting on Lonnie using a caged cricket every time the latter needed to take the plane to Auradon.

"Lonnie. Bathroom, right now," Kory said in a sudden dark voice. Before she knew it, Lonnie got dragged by the arm by Loki's daughter while the latter was carrying some white package. The others watched the scenario in confusion.

"Ooh! François sent our old Boy Scoundrels pictures to me and Charles!" Gabriel said excitedly as he opened a fancy box full of pictures.

"Who's François?" Jane asked.

"Lady Tremaine's third child," Macy said as she opened a box full of heart-shaped chocolates that Manny sent her. "He's basically the replacement of his half-sister Anastasia…since, you know…she reformed."

"Spare me the agony of talking about reformed villains!" Jay said. "Back in the old days, there has been quite a patch of villains who've reformed, a majority of them being former minions, and therefore they weren't sent to the Isle of the Lost. I have nothing against reformed villains, but dealing with the constant reality TV shows broadcasted live from Auradon that boasted about the 'reformees', as we call them, having better lives than us!"

"I think I heard about it," Audrey said. "Many reformed villains have settled in the world and had pleasant lives because of their big heel-face turns. I've seen this TV show that talked about Professor Moriarty's ex-right hand man, Fidget the Bat, and about the life he led, such as getting his crippled wing fixed, marrying a queen, and settling with their son Cornelius. The kid had to deal being the star of the TV show during his entire life!"

"Good grief!" Haya said as she looked at a monster truck catalog that Mystère Darkholme sent. "I'd willingly bury myself alive in an avalanche if I had my privacy ruined like that!"

"My dad and I had to watch this TV show of his ex-minion Iago getting a pampered life," Jay grumbled. "That blasted parrot is having a pampered life married to a bird goddess of thunder and raising their kids in the palace of Agrabah!"

"I've seen worse," Gitane said.

"Delight us," all the villainous kids at the table said.

"A school full of kids of reformed villains and anti-heroes." Her response made all the villainous kids groan.

"Not Saint Luther's Rose Academy!" Mal groaned. "Gitane, please tell me you did not go there!"

"I'm afraid I did," Gitane said, making a face of disgust. "Me and my fellow gypsies were supposed to spend an entire year at Saint Luther's Rose when I was in 7th grade, but after one month there, I chose to quit."

"Did you go there because your dad's…well, you know, an anti-hero?" Doug asked.

"Partially the main reason," Gitane nodded. "But many kids there are snobby, bragging about how they are descended from reformed villains or anti-heroes, thus making them unique in the good and bad balance…"

She's was cut off when gasps were heard from the crowd. Everyone turned to see Lonnie and Kory come back from the bathroom, but Lonnie looked so different: she wore a terra rose turtleneck sweater with black cherry blossoms that were blooming from the bottom and plum colored sailor pants. She still wore her black D'Orsay shoes and her hair was tied up in a swooping pigtail with a cherry blossom designed headband to crown her head. Admiring whispers were heard and camera shots were taken as Lonnie walked through the crowd.

"OH…MY...GOSH!" Audrey said. "Lonnie, you look absolutely divine!"

"Kory, did you ask Noir to design clothing for Lonnie?" Haya asked in confusion.

"I did," Kory grinned mischievously. "I did say that I needed to go shopping in order to replace the sweatshirt that Carmine ruined. So I sent an urgent letter to Noir asking her if she could make some new clothes for my friend in exchange for a few Auradonian fashion magazines."

"I really appreciate what you did, Kory," Lonnie said sincerely, "but I can't accept this…"

"Don't you dare!" Haya said, lifting herself from her seat. "Noir's boutique, the Evil Fashionista Store, is one of the most expensive on the Isle. It's one of the rare places where you can find good quality clothing; you'd have to be closely related to her in order to get it for free. Refusing a gift that came from her store would not only insult her, but it can't be returned. Like her policy says: 'Take it or throw it'!"

"Besides, it looks really nice on you!" Doug said as he took pictures.

"Noir is a genius when it comes to purple related clothing," Evie chuckled.

"Tell me about it," Mal said. "She's the one who designed my favorite coat. You know, the one I wore on our first day here? Her designs fill my closet."

Students were now getting excited: many girls were now hoping that _they_ could get their Noir Du Feu designs. Soon, the new villainous kids ended up with a big request list to send to their friend.

"Wow. Looks like Auradon will need to send one big thank-you card to the Isle of the Lost," Gitane joked as she left the cafeteria in order to pay a visit to Charles.


	19. The Love I Never Thought I Knew

Chapter 19: The Love I Never Thought I Knew

Charles leaned his head on the basin as he threw up in the basin…for the twentieth time.

"This is the fourth basin you just dirtied," Ben remarked as he took the basin away and handed it to the nurse, who was groaning about having to clean another basin. Charles groaned as he slumped back on his pillow, his eyes still in a dazed mood.

"I've never thrown up this much since I was ten," Charles moaned as he rubbed his sweaty face.

"What happened then?" Ben asked curiously.

"My father forced me to clean the stables where he keeps his precious pet horse Snowball. The stables were so dirty with horse poop on that day that he forced me to clean it all up by myself. His oafish and brutish guards took the liberty of making fun of me by kicking me to the point where my face landed on one giant stack of horse poop. I was sick for a week."

"Gosh, I'm so sorry Charles…" Ben said sincerely.

A knock came on the door. The nurse went to open it and in came Fairy Godmother carrying a spoon and… a box of ice cream.

"I heard Charles was having a series of stomach pains," she said warmly, "so I brought one of my special homemade cures!" She went to sit on the chair that was located on the left side of Charles' bed. "Hope you like pumpkin!"

"Are you sure that's going to help him staying hydrated?" the nurse asked as she came back with another basin. "Because he nearly threw up on my irreplaceable carpet just so that he could get his Redemptial Goodness homework done!"

"I said I was sorry…" Charles mumbled before turning to the Fairy Godmother. "I left my homework on the table, Headmistress." He pointed at the table next to Fairy Godmother, where a stack of homework papers could be soon.

"Thank you, Charles. It's nice to see that you took the initiative of doing your homework despite being sick." Fairy Godmother opened the ice cream box and used the spoon to scoop up some ice cream and hand it to Charles. "Lucky for you, this pumpkin ice cream will help you feel much better."

Charles weakly took the spoon.

"But try to avoid eating more than half of the box. Too much sugar isn't good for anybody's health!" This time, FG sounded serious. Charles eyed the spoon before he forcefully put its content in his mouth. Surprisingly, he enjoyed the cold, pumpkin taste as it melted down his throat. Next thing you knew, he was beginning to take larger chunks and stuffing it in his mouth.

"Easy, Charles!" Ben said nervously. "You don't want to be sick again!"

"But it's so good!" whined Charles as he kept eating more pumpkin ice cream until he reached half of the box. He took the cap and covered the box with it before returning it to Fairy Godmother, who was looking through his homework. "Thank you for the treat, ma'am."

"Of course," Fairy Godmother smiled warmly as she took the box and spoon. "And you did a very good job on your homework so far, Charles. You'll be getting it back by tomorrow. In the meantime, do try to get some rest." She got up and walked towards the door. She suggested that the nurse took a small break, which the latter didn't refuse. Ben decided to stay at least a few more minutes with Charles before going back to the cafeteria.

"I've heard that you and Gitane have extensively bonded," Ben said, smirking at the word 'extensively'.

"Is this what romance feels like?" Charles asked daydreamingly.

"If it means becoming somewhat lovesick after the first kiss, then I suppose so." Ben pondered. "Come to think about it, I did go a little over myself after I ate Mal's love potion-based cookie."

"I feel like it's the love I never thought I'd know ever since my mother died…" Charles sighed. "Gitane's so wonderful."

"You mean it sincerely or do you feel like she's only the object of an obsession?" Ben asked, trying to make sure that Charles was not developing an attraction to Gitane similar to Frollo's lust for Esmeralda.

Charles didn't take it well and he sat up straight on his bed. "ARE YOU CRAZY, YOUR HIGHNESS?" he exclaimed. "Gitane's the nicest girl I've ever met. She's sweet, she's caring, and she listens to me with genuine consideration and is always there to console me whenever I feel down on myself. She's fun loving and thoughtful and she treated me like I was always part of her family. I was raised by the number one heartless dark priest on the Isle of the Lost, Ben, and the only lady who was ever as sweet as Gitane to me was my mother before Frollo killed her!" The sudden memory of his beloved mother dying at the hands of Frollo caused tears to start pouring down Charles' cheeks.

"I'm glad to see that you feel happy with Gitane, Charles," Ben said as he gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. "I'll see you around." He got up and left the infirmary. Charles was alone in the room, letting silent tears roll down his cheeks for a couple of minutes until Gitane came in quietly, her eyes slightly red.

"Don't tell me," Charles said sarcastically, "that you were right outside the door listening to my conversation with Ben."

Gitane gave a small, but warm smile as she went to sit on the right side of the bed, her hazel eyes looking at his maroon eyes. "All those nice things you said about me…" she said in a touched voice. "You really aren't like your father, Charlesy." She smiled at him until she noticed that a look of guilt appeared on his face and he tried to avoid her seeing it. "What's wrong?"

"Gitane, I…I admit that I haven't done a lot of great things back on the Isle Of The Lost," he said nervously, "but I've done worse things ever since my father killed Tradaria."

"So you really are the son of the Queen of the Dark Gypsies," Gitane said calmly before letting out a chuckle. "Who knew I was speaking to gypsy royalty other than myself?"

"Gitane! I'm being serious! I even lied about the context of my mother's true murder because I feared your rejection!" His head fell down in disappointment until he felt a warm hand lifting his chin up. Gitane looked at him undeterred.

"Charles Frollo," Gitane said, "Whether you were Frollo and Tradaria's son or afraid of telling me the truth, I would _never_ EVER reject you like that!"

"If you knew everything about me, you might have," Charles insisted with more guilt filling his face. "My mother died because she tried to keep me safe and away from Frollo…only for him to kill her the same way he did with Avery's grandmother when he learned that she abused him and tried to escape the Isle with something of his…and nearly choked me to death when he learned that he had a child with a gypsy. Haya and Shan Yu feel disdain towards me because they had to spare me from dying at the hands of a man they were feuding with constantly on the Isle. Almost all my peers bullied me and I made them pay back by gossiping insults and nasty rumors about them and having the kids of my dad's guards harass them. And I was helpless when I refused to give the person who caused my life to be miserable what she wanted…and when she took it, I ended up causing more pain to others that made me remorseful but unforgiven. How could you, the selfless and loyal princess of the light gypsies, not reject me, a worthless villain?"

Gitane cupped her hands on Charles' cheeks, locking their eyes on one another.

"Because I love you," she whispered. She softly kissed him, and unlike last time, he returned the gesture. The scent of violet and chocolate filled the infirmary and sunrays shone through the small stain glass window, creating a rainbow of diamonds as the couple reveled in the love he never thought he knew.

It must have taken them five minutes to stop and break off the kiss. Charles didn't look like he was going to faint like last time, but he sure was out of breath.

"Are you OK, Charles?" Gitane asked.

"Never felt better," Charles said. He hugged her and she returned the gesture. "I just hope that she doesn't hurt you too."

"She?" Gitane asked confused.

"The one who wrecked my life, starting by when she told Frollo of Tradaria's deception. I can't forgive myself if she harms you…"

"Charles, relax. Whoever this 'she' is, she can't harm you here. She's locked on the Isle, remember?"

"She can. Even with the barrier around the island, she still has her powers and magic. It's already enough that not many people in Auradon are aware of her existence, but her twisted evil is worse than Maleficent's evil combined with those of every other villain on the Isle…including the descendants."


	20. Reality Show, Episode 3

Chapter 20: Reality Show, Episode 3

" _A musical showcase?" Ruby asked._

 _The daughter of Catwoman was asking this to some girl with green skin and eyes crowned with flowing, hot pink hair, dressed in a short, one strapped black dress with purple and pink flower designs that reached the bottom of her hips. Her strap looked like a giant green leaf and a vine like bodice twirled down her waist. She had black legging with green thorn like designs and green gladiator shoes with plant designs. Lonnie noticed that the girl had pointed ears and her attire made her look more like a plant than a person._

"Florence Poison Isley will never change in style," Haya joked.

" _I'd say it's more of a Battle of the Bands than of a musical showcase," Florence said as they ran down a hall full of purple lockers that were either scratched or painted with graffiti art that mostly said 'LONG LIVE EVIL!' or 'DOWN WITH AURADON!' or even 'FEELS GOOD TO BE BAD!' "It takes place every year during the fall semester, and our Siren Music teacher, Ms. Adagio Dazzle, is in charge of it! Hurry, we might be late!" They ran down the hall, their oddly shaped heels making scratching noises on the floor until they reached two large black doors._

" _You sure it isn't against the rules to ditch class in order to witness the auditions?" Ruby asked as Florence pushed the doors open, leading them to a room that looked like a dark, gothic version of Ancient Greek theaters trapped inside an endless abyss. Kids were sitting in the front rows in order to have a better view of the stage, which was occupied by two boys. One of them a redheaded, blue-skinned boy dressed in a dark biker's jacket with red shoulder straps and spiked epaulettes, red jeans, knee-high black boots with spikes at the toe caps, fingerless biker gloves, and a chain attached up and around his waist; he definetly looked like those bikers you'd see in movies or magazines. The other one was actually an android in different shades of grey, red laser-like eyes and a crimson core on his chest. The two of them were playing this sort of rock and rap song with the android playing with something that looked like a virtual, 3D, holographic DJ set._

 _Boys:_ _ **Best to be evil, best to be wicked.**_

 _ **Must be criminal, since I'm so convicted.**_

 _ **Should be a rascal, since it's permitted.**_

 _ **Try to be a devil, because I'm so twisted!**_

 _Loud cheers were heard once the boys were done singing and the android made the virtual DJ set disappear. Florence and Ruby applauded as they sat on one of the seats in the middle row._

" _Wow! Mystère and Ben really did outdo themselves!" Ruby said as she applauded._

" _Yeah! Our friends were the second best band in the school after the Dark Rulers," Florence said. "It's cool that Napoleon is having them DJ for the back-to-school party next Monday!"_

" _Do you think they'll beat the Dark Rulers for the title of 'Kings of the Wicked Call'? I mean, I read the old UNHOLY GAZETTE edition and the Dark Ruler's CD '_ _Black Phoenix'_ _that you lent me…"_

" _Rubes, it would take a siren to beat the Dark Rulers!"_

"Awww, Flo still likes our music," Macy said gleefully.

" _Coming up next," a woman's voice said through the speakers. "Sirenius Dazzle and the Breathtakers!"_

" _Ooh, this is gonna be hilarious," Flo said in a mocking tone as she rubbed her hands together and gave a mischievous grin. "The son of our Siren Music teacher is going to sing in a band while he never managed to beat the Dark Rulers all by himself in every other Battle Of The Bands!"_

 _The curtains pulled and three other boys came out. To Lonnie's surprise, one of them was Sean Abyss, wearing a T-Shirt depicting a Kraken attacking a ship in the middle of a storm, purple jeans, and the same sneakers as the last time. Next to him was a blue dragon-like boy with hair made of actually blue fire, an outfit based on blue, scales, and flames, navy blue boots, and a long dragon tail. From Lonnie's perspective, he could have been Mushu's evil blue twin brother._

"Haya, who's the dragon boy?" she asked her FNF.

"Safír Dragon, the son of the Sapphire Dragon," she answered. "Your folks ever tell you about them?"

"If I'm correct, his dad was a mystical artifact whose fire turned people into sapphire zombies…" Avery and Gitane's shushing cut her off.

 _The boy leading Sean and Safír had short, orange mandarin hair with one golden streak. He wore a purple jacket with short, ripped sleeves on top of a darker purple T-shirt with a musical note on it, a brown-and-yellow triangle motif belt, blue jeans, red and brown sneakers with the design of a red gen on the sides, maroon fingerless gloves with spikes on the straps. Some strands of his hair covered his right eye, but the left one showed its purple color._

" _Judging by his resemblance to Professor Dazzle, I'll take it that's her son Sirenius," Ruby said instantly._

 _The boys began singing. The voice of Sirenius was so dazzling and so seductive that you almost forgot the charming ones of Safír and Sean._

 _Sirenius:_ _ **I'm so vile. Vile like a villain.**_

 _Safír and Sean:_ _ **But you are a villain!**_

 _Sirenius:_ _ **Oh yeah, you're right. So I'm vile as the Devil.**_

 _Safír and Sean:_ _ **Go tell that to Cruella De Vil!**_

 _Sirenius:_ _ **See, I wanna live my life like this.**_

 _Safír and Sean:_ _ **What do you gotta miss?**_

 _Sirenius:_ _ **I have no restrictions to my conditions.**_

 _ **My villainy will define who I'll become.**_

 _ **I don't know anything with restrictions**_

 _ **When it comes to being, to being an all-time scum.**_

 _All Breathtakers:_ _ **We wanna live our lives**_

 _ **As kings of evil hives.**_

 _ **We wanna party every night**_

 _ **And celebrate our wicked mights.**_

 _ **We're all-time scums!**_

 _Everybody in the room applauded loud and clear at the Breathtakers._

" _OK, so Sirenius was pretty good this time," Flo admitted as she clapped her hands._

" _I'm surprised that Sean could sing," Ruby said._

" _Hello! He's Ursula's son! Did you think his mother kept her mouth shut when she made her deal with the dumb mermaid?"_

"Hey! Princess Ariel isn't dumb!" Audrey cried indignantly.

" _Coming up next, we have the Bewitchers," the woman's voice said._

 _The stage suddenly went dark. One by one, stage lights began to illuminate three girls. The first one was a purple-skinned girl with black-and-purple hair flowing with magical sparks a purple demonic outfit and some sort of six-pointed star depicted in her clothing._

 _(_ _ **Note from the Author: You should check my Villains High Gallery on Deviantart to see what I'm talking about.**_ _)_

" _Minuit Sparkle, daughter of Midnight Sparkle," Flo gasped._

" _Wait, isn't she one of the jeerleaders?" Ruby asked._

 _The second one was a Caucasian girl dressed in the world's most skimpy and revealing black-and-red clown outfit, with the abbreviation J.J tattooed on her left leg. Her blonde with black streaks hair was tied up into three ponytails and her face had the freakiest clown makeup ever._

" _Jessie Joker, the daughter of the Joker and Harley Quinn," Flo said in disgust._

" _You mean the one that Noir and the other supervillains kicked out of their circle because of her affiliation with…"_

 _A light illuminated the person standing in front of Minuit and Jessie. Gasps were heard throughout the auditoriums, both in Dragon Hall and in Auradon Prep._

"It can't be!" Gabriel said.

"It…it's her!" Charles gasped in the most traumatized voice possible.

"You mean she's the… 'She'?" Gitane asked.

"Why on earth is _she_ participating in the Battle of the Bands?" Mal asked, baffled.

"Mal, who is she?" Ben asked.

"How can this be?" This time, it was Fairy Godmother's turn to be shocked. "She still looks the same…just like twenty years ago…and decades before then! How is she still here?"

 _For one, the girl who stood out was an extremely beautiful creature. Just too beautiful. Her slender, hourglass figure and perfectly swayed hips were just so well proportioned. Her purple skin and bluish eyes gleamed in the dark. Her black and deep turquoise hair flowed down her waist; her snake-based outfit and accessories accentuated her figure. If she didn't have long pointed ears and dark turquoise bat wings folded down like a cape, she would have been described as an angel of darkness._

" **IT'S PENNA DE MORT!** " FG and every villainous descendant exclaimed. " **VOLDEMORT'S DAUGHTER!** "

 _The Bewitchers began singing, with Penna De Mort singing in the lead and Minuit and Jessie as back up. Soon, the entire Dragon Hall auditorium was afraid as they listened Penna De Mort's voice rise with power and seductive beauty like a twisted snake. Even the auditorium in Auradon Prep was both terrified and seduced._

 _ **Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh**_

 _ **You didn't know that you fell**_

 _ **Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh**_

 _ **Now that you're under our spell**_

 _ **Blindsided by the beat**_

 _ **Clapping your hands, stomping your feet**_

 _ **You didn't know that you fell**_

 _ **Oh-whoa-oh-oh**_

 _ **Now you've fallen under our spell**_

 _ **Oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh**_

 _ **We've got the music, makes you move it**_

 _ **Got the song that makes you lose it We say "jump", you say "how high?"**_

 _ **Put your hands up to the sky**_

 _ **We've got the music, makes you move it**_

 _ **Got the song that makes you lose it We say "jump", you say "how high?"**_

 _ **Put your hands up to the sky**_

 _ **Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh**_

 _ **You didn't know that you fell**_

 _ **Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh**_

 _ **Now that you're under our spell**_

 _ **Listen to the sound of my voice**_

 _ **Soon you'll find you don't have a choice**_

 _ **Captured in the web of my song**_

 _ **Soon you'll all be singing along**_

 _ **We've got the music, makes you move it**_

 _ **Got the song that makes you lose it**_

 _ **We say, "jump", you say "how high?"**_

 _ **Put your hands up to the sky**_

 _ **We've got the music, makes you move it**_

 _ **Got the song that makes you lose it**_

 _ **We say, "jump", you say "how high?"**_

 _ **Put your hands up to the sky**_

 _ **Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh**_

 _ **You didn't know that you fell**_

 _ **Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh**_

 _ **Now that you're under our spell**_

 _ **Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh**_

 _ **You didn't know that you fell**_

 _ **Oh-whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh**_

 _ **Now that you're under our Spell**_

" _OK, now I'm scared," Ruby said shakingly once the song was over and Penna De Mort was just standing there laughing evilly while everyone, including the only teacher in the room, cringed before her._

" _You don't get it, Ruby!" Florence said sternly. "Penna De Mort is a monster! She's been on the Isle of The Lost longer than any of us! She never stopped attending Dragon Hall once it was created and tormenting every kid who went there. She's the only one on the Isle whose magic wasn't nullified by the activated barrier, and she could have easily stepped out of the Isle if she wanted to! To crown it all, she's so powerful that she even scares Maleficent and she was Auradon's worst enemy!"_


	21. Concerns, Magic, and Music

Chapter 21: Concerns, Magic, and Music

"I still don't get how Penna De Mort is still around, in the Isle of the Lost, and with magic that goes against the barrier's powers!" Fairy Godmother.

Right after the live representation of the Battle of the Bands auditions, Fairy Godmother had summoned King Ben, Merlin, and the ten villainous children in her office. She was pacing back and forth nervously behind her desk. Frankly, could you blame her? She just found out that a villainess, whom she seemed to be very familiar with, was running amok in the Isle of the Lost, unaffected by age and her magic undeterred by the magic nullifier of the barrier surrounding the island prison.

"Well, my dear," Merlin said as he toyed with his long white beard, "since Penna is the daughter of _Voldemort_ , then it would make sense that she used Horcruxes to remain young?"

"But it doesn't explain how she can use magic!" F.G exclaimed, still nervous. She turned to the villainous kids, calming down a bit. "Children, what exactly do you know about magic on the Isle of the Lost?"

Out of the ten children, nine of them stammered uneasily. Only Charles Frollo raised his hand.

"Yes, Charles?"

"So…you remember how we mentioned that gods were locked up in Tartarus?"

Jay frowned. "How is this related?"

Charles face-palmed himself. "Am I _really_ the only one who did my homework in Dragon Hall?" Nobody said anything until Mal snapped her fingers in realization.

"Of course! The gods were locked up in Tartarus because their ancient magic could easily penetrate through the barrier and outside the Isle, so they needed to be locked up in the one place no god could ever escape from if imprisoned and guarded twenty-four hours a day: Tartarus!"

"The rules of ancient magic…" Merlin said. "How could I have forgotten?"

"What are the rules of ancient magic, Professor Merlin?" Ben asked. To answer his question, Merlin pulled out a chart out of nowhere and began to doodle on it. He drew four people in a row: some giant man, a winged lady, a normal lady, and then some…kid.

"First person is a god," he said, pointing to the giant doodle, "then Penna De Mort, then Fairy Godmother, and then…we'll just say it's Mal."

"Sure," Mal said sarcastically.

"As you can see, I ranked these people by age. And yes, Penna De Mort is a lot older than Fairy Godmother…"

"Fairy Godmother and others of her generation have designed and created the magical barrier," Charles finished for Merlin. "The problem is that, while the barrier nullifies the magic of villains around or bellow the age of those who imprisoned it, it can't do the same for older villains, like the gods, other immortal villains, spirits, bearers of ancient magic, and Penna De Mort."

"So it's like another one of those 'older is better than younger' rules?" Carlos muttered. "Kind of lame."

"Speak for yourself, De Vil!" Charles snapped, pointing an angry finger at the chest of Cruella's son. "Due to the fact that I'm the son of a dark gypsy, whom the people bear _very_ ancient magic, and a member of the clergy, which approached the link to the Christian god, I've been cursed to bear ancient magic! Do you have any idea of how much my father tried to 'cleanse me' from all that dark gypsy magic?"

"You have magic?" Mal asked, both surprised and not really believing what Frollo's son just said. The half dark gypsy boy held out his right palm. A small cloud of purple smoke suddenly appeared and glowing moon glyph came along, centralizing itself in the smoke as it cleared a path for it and began floating around it like Saturn's rings. Gasps were heard from the villainous descendants.

"Incredible," Ben said.

"Indeed," Merlin said as he and Fairy Godmother got closer to see the moon glyph that Charles summoned. "It's the moon glyph symbol of darkness. Quite impressive how you manage to summon it, Charles. Just seeing how well it came it out proves that you must have practiced a lot of magic while you were living on the Isle…"

"The way the moon glyph of darkness is designed…" Fairy Godmother said quietly before looking at Charles. "Charles…you wouldn't…happen to be related to Tradaria by any chance?"

"I am," Charles answered nervously, quickly clenching his palm and making the magic disappear into nothingness. "I'm her son."

" **WHAT?** " everyone except Haya, the adults, and Ben screamed.

"You're saying that the Queen of those dark gypsy misfits from the Isle of the Lost is your mother?!" Macy exclaimed.

"Either it's just me, or Haya is the only one not reacting," Xaos said. All eyes turned on the Hun girl, who simply shrugged.

"Long story, you'd be bored," Haya said. "Shouldn't we worry more about Penna De Mort than Charles?"

"Love how you degrade me, Haya," Charles said drily.

"Must we go through this every time?"

"No, thank you. I'd rather not."

"Look, everyone." Ben said, getting everyone to calm down. "We know it's a lot to take, but the point is that if villains are beginning to use magic within the barrier, than it's going to become a problem for Auradon's security."

"Relax, Ben. Sure, we have a few older villains who can use magic and 'some' of their kids got that advantage, but they have never even dared to try to escape the Isle. Yes, the little hole that the barrier got during your coronation let some outside magic come in. But, overall, most of the magic-users on the Isle are restrained to _teeny_ tiny spells." At the word 'teeny', Charles pinched his thumb and index finger together. "If they to use BIG magic such as trying to escape the Isle, then the barrier will zap them, making them reconsider their choice."

"How do you know that?" Kory asked.

"I saw Facilier and Freddie trying to use their voodoo magic just for that on Independence Day. Three minutes later, they looked as if they sat on an electric chair."

"Oh! So that explains why Freddie smelled like barbecue for a week!" Gabriel said.

"So then, what do we do?" Carlos said.

"I recommend that we keep an eye on the villains on the Isle through the crystal ball, only maybe we should do more than just Mondays," Merlin suggested, looking at Fairy Godmother.

"Well, I wouldn't want students to miss a majority of their classes…I'll have to think about it."

"We could keep in touch with Proserpine and Ingwer," Haya said. "There among the most mature and trustworthy of the friends we've been keeping in touch with."

"Plus, they know about magic. Surely they can keep an eye out in case something fishy occurs," Fairy Godmother nodded in approval. "Looks like we'll be able to keep things in control."

"Although we _are_ going to have to put Charles in Controlling & Understanding magic class," Merlin said slyly. The gray-haired face-palmed himself as he muttered: "Why me?", which caused the others to laugh.

 _After school, around 4:30pm_

"Thank you so much for letting us come to watch you rehearse!" Lonnie said as she, Audrey, Haya, and Macy walked through the golden halls filled with Hindu idols of King Studios.

"Of course," Haya winked.

"It's a grand opportunity," Macy said. "Kory just received a new keytar on Mr. King's recommendation."

"Keytar?" Audrey looked confused.

"Apparently, it's Mother Nature's hybrid of a keyboard and a guitar," Haya said as she opened a nearby door. The girls stepped inside a small recording room designed like the interior of a Hindu temple, except for the fact that there were devices everywhere, a small stage where Xaos and Kory were waiting, with the drum set and keytar, and a controlling room where Louie King and a few other crew members were located.

"Good! You're all here!" he said jovially. "Haya, Macy, go join your fellow Dark Rulers. Lonnie and Audrey, why don't you join us here in the controlling room?"

"We serve hot chocolate!" one of the crewmen called.

"This is going to be cool," Audrey giggled as she and Lonnie stepped inside the control room. Louie King led them to two chairs with a good view of the Dark Rulers.

"OK, folks!" Louie King said. "We're on in three, two, one…"

The Dark Rulers began playing a cool song filled with pop music.

Kory: _So much as happened in my life._

 _I always thought that it would lead me to an evil afterlife._

 _I guess that's what you get from a background of strife._

 _You'd never know how to separate the good from the bad with a carving knife._

Xaos: _But I chose to stand up for myself._

Haya, Kory, and Macy: _Oh-oh-ah-oh-oh_

Xaos: _And you helped me find my inner self._

Kory, Macy, and Haya: _Oh-oh-ah-oh-oh_

Xaos: _My arrogance was as big as Chernabog himself._

Macy, Haya, and Kory: _Oh-oh-ah-oh-oh_

Xaos: _But my selflessness was as small as an elf._

Dark Rulers: _So we worked together. We found the best in us._

 _We saw that being a team was worth an A plus._

 _It was then that we saw that feuding wasn't something to discuss._

 _Dark Rulers or not, we'll remain friends thus._

"It's amazing," Lonnie whispered.

"Wait, are they glowing?" Audrey suddenly asked. This got everyone's attention and they saw that the more the Dark Rulers poured emotions into their singing, the more they glowed: Kory in sea foam green, Macy in cobalt blue, Xaos in saffron yellow, and Haya in garnet red.

Haya: _I'd never imagine that friendship could matter so much to me._

Kory, Macy, and Xaos: _Oh-oh-ah-oh-oh_

Haya: _Yet it made my heart fill with glee._

Macy, Xaos, and Kory: _Oh-oh-ah-oh-oh_

Macy: _I could care less of what others think._

Haya, Kory, and Xaos: _Oh-oh-ah-oh-oh_

Macy: _You and I make a wicked team link._

Then the amazing occurred as the glowing increased: symbols appeared above the Dark Rulers as if it symbolized a part of them. Kory had a wolf howling what appeared to be a breath designed like a piano key; Macy had a crowned bear with a semiquaver behind it. Xaos had a drum with drumsticks shaped like ankhs. As for Haya, she had a falcon rising, with its wings spread out, above a dark electric guitar. The sight amazed the audience.

Dark Rulers: _So we worked together. We found the best in us._

 _We saw that being a team was worth an A plus._

 _It was then that we saw that feuding wasn't something to discuss._

 _Dark Rulers or not, we'll remain friends thus._

Despite the fact that the symbols disappeared once the Dark Rulers were done singing, everyone in the studio applauded.

"Fantastic! Amazing!" Louie King cheered. "This song will be the next hit on every radio station in Auradon!"

Lonnie rushed out to congratulate the Dark Rulers by giving each of them a great hug. "You guys were amazing! I could definetly feel all the emotions!"

"You should compliment Macy," Xaos said. "After all, as our band's songwriter, she had a lot of work behind her back." The compliment made Macy blush.

"Looks like Auradon gives a lot of inspiration," Haya chuckled, as she held out her hand for a high five with Lonnie, except for the fact that Lonnie chose to give her a hug instead. This surprised Haya a lot, but she genuinely returned the hug.

"Xaos, how much are you crying internally?" Kory joked as she placed her arm on her boyfriend's shoulders.

"To the point of wetting my pants," he admitted, which resulted with getting disgusted noises from the girls.

"OK, TMI, dude!" Audrey said as she came to join them.

"Alright, alright! I'll just go ahead and unleash all those tears in the bathroom," Xaos rolled his eyes as he left off for the nearest restroom.

"Remind me again Kory why you decided to date that guy?" Haya asked as she and Lonnie broke off the hug.

"I like guys who make me laugh," the daughter of Loki shrugged. "And even when he doesn't make the effort, he's still lovable."

"Quick question," Audrey asked, changing the topic. "What was it with those symbols floating above your heads while you were playing?"

The three villainous girls' eyes popped wide open when they heard what Audrey said. "Uh oh…" they said in unison.

"I think we might have accidently showed off our marks of villainy," Haya chuckled nervously.


	22. Lonnie's Dream Knight

Chapter 22: Lonnie's Dream Knight

"Well, that was a long day!" Lonnie exclaimed as she jumped on her bed. It was Wednesday night now, and after having a warm dinner, everyone in Auradon Prep had gone off to bed now, eager to get inside their cozy beds and wander off into sweet dreams…or nightmares.

"Aside from Eleanor's constant pestering and lots of kids panicking because they learned that Voldemort's daughter is on the Isle of the Lost, today was OK," Kory added. She pulled her green covers over and pulled herself in. Carmine jumped on the bed in order to cuddle with her mistress. "Easy, Carmine! You're still sleeping in your little mat!" The demigoddess giggled as her wolf licked her on the cheeks. "OK, go say good night to Auntie Lonnie."

"Oh, that won't be necessary…" Lonnie began, but it was too late: the grey wolf instantly jumped off Kory's bed and raced towards Lonnie, showering her with licks on the face.

"Stop it! That tickles!" Lonnie giggled. She rubbed the wolf's chin until it stopped and dashed to its comfortable cushion mat, where it cuddled to the point where it looked like a giant grey fur ball.

"Do you have a pet at home?" Kory asked. She snapped her fingers and a piece of tissue appeared in front of Lonnie.

"There's Little Brother, my mom's dog," Lonnie said as she wiped her face with the magical tissue. "Oh, and my mother gave me her horse Khan's filly, Xing-Xia, as a birthday gift."

"You enjoy horse riding?" Kory asked as she pulled up her covers.

"A lot. I'm actually born on the year of the horse. 7th of March to boost it."

"Let me guess: seven is a lucky number for people born on the horse year?"

"Well, I hope you dream of horses tonight."

"Goodnight."

"Don't let the nightmares scare you off," Kory teased. She clapped her hands and the lights turned off, leading the girls to fall into sweet dreams.

 _Lonnie's dream_

Lonnie found herself standing in an infinite field of green glass. Above her laid a multicolored ethereal sky with stars and nebulas that kept changing positions at every second. She looked down at herself: she was dressed in a magenta and royal blue western Zhou hanfu dress like those they wore in her home village back in China. A breeze blew from behind her, revealing her long hair to be loose and flow gently in the air.

This looked like a very beautiful dream to Lonnie. The kind of dream that she would never want to leave. Somehow…she felt like home.

Suddenly, something in the heavenly sky caught her attention: it looked like some sort of trail made of a patch of the dark blue night sky slithering its way down towards the infinite field just ahead. Confused at the sudden apparition, Lonnie quickly pulled up the skirt of her dress in order to run much faster. She ran, ignoring the grass rubbing on her bare ankles, the dark blue flower petals floating around her, and the wind blowing on her face. She ran until se saw the mystical trail land behind what appeared to be a cherry blossom tree, except they were dark blue as the night.

Lonnie got closer to the tree until she saw the trail suddenly change shape from a trail of smoke to what appeared to be some sort of dark alicorn. Lonnie froze: the dark alicorn…it looked so familiar.

"I saw you," she realized out loud. "In another dream…when I was younger…"

The shadow of the alicorn turned its head at Lonnie's direction before it changed its shape again, but this time in a human form.

"How on earth can you possibly see me?" it asked with a deep, masculine voice. It sounded so different from the other male voices she heard in her life: it wasn't flirty, demanding, know-it-all, boastful, or anything of the sort. No, it sounded more…mystical…and…it sounded as if it were treating like a curiosity. As if she were something new to it.

"I think it would help if you came out," Lonnie suggested quietly. The figure seemed to hesitate at first. It then took a deep breath and stepped into the open. Lonnie's eyes widened as it came out.

The thing was a boy who could have been around seventeen-years-old, but he was definetly older than Lonnie. His skin was of a dark shade between coal black and night black. His shirt and pants seemed to be made of a fabric that looked like a moving blue cosmos full of stars. A purple belt with the clasp shaped like a blue crescent moon was tied to his waist. He wore what appeared to be dark blue gauntlets and greaves above his dark blue/purple gloves and boots. Four things of the boy amazed Lonnie: his light blue barbut helmet with three horns on the front that made it look as if unicorn horns were used to form a crown, his long shoulder capes that were designed like large, dark blue wings, his hair coming from behind his helm that looked like a mist of night and stars, and his icy blue eyes with feline irises.

Lonnie was so speechless. Never in her dreams…not even in reality, had she seen such a mysterious, dark knight. She was lost in her thoughts and failed to notice that the knight was staring at her in a very similar manner.

"I must be the one dreaming," the knight said. He pinched the top of his nose and held on for a few seconds before letting go, only to see that nothing particular happened. "Looks like I'm half-right."

"Half-right?" Lonnie frowned. "I don't understand."

"Let's put it this way: if you are an actual person in the real world, then your Dreamworld self shouldn't be seeing me right now. The same would apply if you were part of another living individual's dream. In other words, you shouldn't have seen or heard me…"

"Why shouldn't I?" Lonnie asked curiously.

"Because I'm dream-hopper. Once people fall asleep, my spirit visits their dreams or nightmares of others, which also grants me access to old, current, and future knowledge. They never see me because I mostly lurk within the shadows…in order to avoid being seen."

"But I'm seeing you right now."

"And that concerns me. Are you even real? Or a mere illusion?"

"Well, how can _you_ tell if whether or not I'm real? Even if this is a dream, am I not real?"

The knight glanced at Lonnie as if she were quite a puzzle. In order to show her what he meant, he placed a hand on the tree's trunk and, like magic, he was dragged inside it. Lonnie gasped and raced to the cherry blossom tree, where she moved her hands all over the trunk.

"Where did he go?" she exclaimed nervously. Suddenly, she saw a three-horned shadow looming above her on the tree trunk. Lonnie tried not to panic: as the daughter of two warriors and from what Haya demonstrated, she had to keep her blood cold.

"Unlike anybody or anything during dreams and nightmares, I can phase through 'solid' objects," the knight said, keeping his calm, stoic composure. "I could easily put my hand through you if I wanted."

 _He really knows how to joke like Mushu_ , Lonnie thought in disbelief. Her thought flew away when she felt something touch her behind the waist. Yet, it was a brusque, perverted touch like when Gabriel Legume had touched her earlier this month. Instead, it was gentle, soft, and somewhat innocent. The touch sent unfamiliar senses through her spine.

Lonnie gently turned towards the knight, whose left hand was still placed behind her waist. He looked baffled, his icy blue feline eyes looking confused and anxious.

"I…I don't understand," he stammered, losing his calm demeanor for a moment. "You're still solid! Why is it I can't phase through you? I've been able to move through everything in this dream, just like in any other dream or nightmare, but why you?" This time, he definetly looked anxious.

Unable to keep herself, Lonnie held out her right hand towards his face. The knight was too stunned by the fact that she wasn't like anything else he encountered in other dreams, so he let her run her warm fingers on his cheek while his icy blue eyes were fixed on her average brown ones.

"Your skin's cold…" Lonnie said as she rested her hand on his cheek.

"You…could feel it?" the knight asked. Lonnie nodded and he softened a bit, beginning to smile at her. "Well, you really are unique."

Lonnie blushed. For some reason, she was beginning to like that mysterious knight very much. They didn't stop looking at one another. It felt like time froze and it was just the two of them. Well…that was until the sound of the earth shaking and the valley and sky starting to fade away like jeans bleaching.

"What's happening?" Lonnie exclaimed. The knight pulled himself away from her and looked around, with a serious look on his face.

"You're waking up," he said. "I need to go!" His shoulder capes began to unfold upward as if they were real wings.

"No, wait!" Lonnie said, but it was too late. The knight turned back into a trail of smoke and flew out, away from her eyesight, and everything began to fade.

 _Thursday morning_

"FA LI LONNIE!"

Lonnie felt something cold hit her in the face. She pulled herself up and forced her eyes open. She was in her bed, soaking wet with cold water. Kory, Macy, Haya, Charles, and Audrey were all standing at the side of her bed. They were all in their PJs and Charles was holding a bucket of water

"Lonnie! Thank my ancestors you're awake!" Haya said. She instantly handed Lonnie a towel to dry off. "Don't you dare give me a heart attack like that!"

"Thanks for the bucket of cold water, Charles," Kory said. "How did you know that was going to work?"

"Eh. That's probably one of the rare times I'm actually grateful that my father taught me something useful," Charles shrugged.

"Because he splashes you with a bucket of cold water in order to wake you up every morning?" Audrey frowned. Lonnie rubbed herself with the towel.

"Yes. Now, if you'll excuse me, ladies, I'm late for my breakfast rendezvous with Avery and the gargoyles." Charles stomped away from the dorm, leaving the girls speechless.

"Am I the only one who's wondering why Charles Frollo is wearing a footie pajama with suns on them?" Lonnie said as she got out of bed.

"Gitane. Don't ask," Macy said.

"So, now that we made sure that Lonnie didn't die in her sleep, shall we all go to the showers?" Kory suggested. Audrey and Macy nodded in approval and the three girls raced out of the dorm for the showers with Carmine following them and leaving Lonnie with Haya.

"You sure you OK?" Haya asked as she helped a still drowsy Lonnie stand up.

"I'm fine." Lonnie rubbed her face. "I just had a crazy dream."

"Happens to all of us. A warm shower should help you clear your thoughts. Works for me when I have my rough days."

Haya led Lonnie out of the dorm, unaware that Lonnie was still thinking of a mysterious knight and was regretting that she didn't get to ask him his name.


	23. Reality Show, Episode 4

Chapter 23: Reality Show, Episode 4

 _(This was happening on Friday after lunch)_

" _To the not-so-secret P.C lab!"_

 _Ingwer Hexe and some girl wearing a purple trumpet dress with a huge collar were running down a few stairs, carrying backpacks on their backs, until they reached some room with only a giant dragon statue for decoration. Ingwer was exhausted from all the running while her friend with the black-and-average-purple ponytail that reached her hips stood in front of the statue as if she did it every day. Lonnie noticed that the girl's dress did not hide her bare, slender legs, and her purple high-heels. Her arms were also exposed; her right handcuff bracelet was purple while the left one was blue. She wore blue goggles on top of her head and a scarf of the similar color around her neck. Her ears were decorated with giant blue Inca earrings._

" _Let's pull the lever, Ingwer!" she said, pointing at the statue's opened, fanged mouth._

" _Must we always do this every time we go to your mom's Potion Chemistry class, Izzy?" Ingwer asked drily as she wiped sweat away from her forehead. "Because it's always going to end up with one of us getting crushed by the wrong lever's booby trap."_

" _Killjoy," Izzy grumbled as she pulled the dragon's upper right fang. Suddenly, the floor spun, carrying Ingwer and Izzy with them, and the girls landed in some underground rollercoaster shaped like a dragon. The safety bar of the cart they landed in automatically pulled down on them._

" _ **Please remain seated and keep your arms and legs in at all times**_ _," a robotic voice said. Ingwer made sure that her backpack was safely secured while Izzy pulled her goggles on top of her eyes, eager to begin the ride._

"Is that Yzma's rollercoaster leading to her secret lab?" Ben asked.

"Yeah. Her lab now serves as the Potions Chemistry lab in which she's the teacher. The coaster is our main access to it," Mal said. "Except they made the carts look like dragons."

 _The rollercoaster went down a crazy track full of crazy, Mesoamerican idols of monsters. While Ingwer was holding on to the safety bar for dear life, Izzy was putting her arms in the air, screaming excitedly, as they spun their way down the rollercoaster track until it stopped and the girls landed on a platform in lab outfits. They kept their shoes, but they were know dressed in lab coats (like those Yzma and Kronk wore) with purple chemical smoke designs coming from the bottom of their coats, black lab gloves, and goggles similar to Izzy's. Izzy had some strand of hair spiking out of her ponytail while Ingwer had her hair spiked up. They high-fived one another and ran to a black door, which Izzy opened._

 _They stepped inside a laboratory with walls painted of grey. Glass closets containing diverse vials full of colored liquids decorated the room. On the girl's right side was a black dirty chalkboard and a large desk while on the other side were rows of tables with at least two or three students occupying them. The villainous students were all wearing lab uniforms similar to Ingwer's and Izzy's and were doing a diverse of things, whether it was gossiping, snickering to one another, pestering the other students, or talking about homework. Chemistry sets were seen on each table._

" _Izzy! Ingwer!" a voice called._

 _The girls looked to see a Caucasian boy with black hair groomed professionally. The most particular part about his hair was that he had lots of strands of hair that were multi-colored as if they were trying to form a stranded rainbow. Large reading glasses covered his brown eyes._

"Manny…" Macy sighed in a daydreaming voice.

"THAT'S your boyfriend?" Finius asked in surprise.

"Welcome to the club," Gabriel grumbled.

" _There's one spare work surface left for your scientific-based experimentation," Manny said, a table that stood in front of the one he shared with a boy with dark purple skin and hair gelled up in a style similar to Sean's, crimson eyes, and purple, rectangular lab goggles that were different from the blue, round ones that everyone else wore._

" _Can't you speak in normal English and say that there's a table available?" Ingwer asked drily as she and Izzy sat down at the table Manny pointed at._

" _I vocalize through the scientific dialect," Manny said as he straightened his glasses. "Every scientist does."_

" _I don't," his neighbor said. "And neither does my dad."_

" _Your paternal figure is an eight-armed cephalopod mollusk who dislikes cold-based flightless seabirds."_

" _Well your mom is an infanticidal witch with romantic issues!"_

" _OKAY!" Ingwer said, keeping the bickering boys aside. "As much as I enjoy watching the son of Medea and the son of Dave the Octopus bicker despite their BWFF status, why don't you guys do it elsewhere and not in Potions Chemistry class? Your getting yourself a lot of unwanted attention."_

 _The boys looked around them to see every villainous student in the Potions Chemistry lab looking at them with faces that said: 'Will you keep it down?'_

" _Sorry…" the son of Dave the Octopus said in an embarrassed tone. The other students dully took the apology and went back to their initial occupations except for two girls and one boy sitting on a working table just across the one Izzy and Ingwer now shared. The first girl had slightly pinkish purple skin and hair (with two shades of purple and light blue streaks) in a hairstyle that looked like the one Lonnie had before Mal gave her a better hairstyle, except it had extra long strands behind them. She wore gray earrings shaped like equal signs, a purple headband with some sort of purple star and cyan swirl design, and purple sunshades that made it hard to tell what her eye color was. The second girl was a Caucasian girl with black hair cut in a military style that covered her left eye, showing only her dark right eye, a Nazi military cap, and earrings shaped like_ _swastikas. The boy was Asian with brown eyes and cropped black hair. The top half of his face was covered with a white mask that had a red circle. The three kids were snickering and mockingly clapping their hands at the group._

" _Will you look at that," the purple girl snickered. "Villains spreading disharmony with their differences."_

" _Talk about disgusting," the boy made a gagging face._

" _Think that there's enough time for them to convert?" the Nazi girl asked in a mocking tone._

" _Geesh, Adele," Izzy grumbled. "Don't you have any other victims to place in your gas chambers?"_

" _And what about you, Moonlight and Gelyk?" Manny's neighbor joined in. "Don't you think that you should bring your communism elsewhere? Like…where no one will actually yawn?" Ingwer and Manny chuckled at the remarks they made._

" _Tell that to your dad, David," Moonlight rolled her eyes. "He didn't even know how to make penguin shish-kebab!"_

" _If you say so…stripped flank!" David taunted, lifting himself from his seat and pointing a finger at his but. Moonlight gasped, feeling insulted. "Why you…!" she began._

" _SILENCE!"_

 _All the students turned to see an elderly woman standing in front of the door. She was dressed in a lab coat similar to the ones the students wore, except the design of chemical smoke came out of a design of a round vial. The heels of her purple shoes were designed like chemistry vials. Her black hair with its purple skunk stripe was pulled upwards by a blue headband. She had earrings just like Izzy._

" _Here comes the living proof that dinosaurs once roamed the Earth," Izzy grumbled quietly._

" _You have a notable approach of speaking highly of your maternal figure," Manny whispered._

"OK, Izzy looks _nothing_ like Yzma!" someone in the Auradon audience said.

"How exactly does an ugly lady like Yzma manage to have a cute daughter?" Gitane asked.

"Beats me." Charles shrugged. "How come my dad is over is fifties and I don't have his cheekbones?"

 _Yzma walked in front of her desk, in order to face all the students. Most of them were quiet while others squirmed with disgust at the sight of Yzma's bare, shriveled legs. It was a rather disgusting sight for Lonnie to see._

" _I see that you children find enough time to bicker and show off your villainous heritage," Yzma said, looking at Adele, Moonlight, and Gelyk. "Isn't that right, Ms. Hitler, Ms. Glimmer, and Mr. Amon?" She listed the last names of the three villainous kids in order._

" _Yes, Professor," Adele Hitler, Moonlight Glimmer, and Gelyk Amon said in uneasy unison. It was pretty clear that they were now getting uncomfortable._

" _Then it seems like it would be cruel enough to put all that wickedness into a class pop quiz," Yzma declared. All the students groaned. Ingwer face palmed herself. Izzy slammed her face on the table. Only Manny and David shrugged as if they could handle it._

" _Izzy, go get the black mambas in the storage closet." Yzma pointed at a door behind the last table. Izzy grumbled a 'Yes, Mom' before getting up and walking towards the end of the room. She put her goggles over her eyes before she opened the door._

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but they aren't using _actual_ mambas, right?" Jane asked nervously.

"I wish I could tell you they were fake," Mal said. "But I can't."

 _Izzy came out pulling a cart with piled glass cases, each containing a live black mamba. The venomous snakes struggled in their prisons, hissing and twisting, as Izzy placed a glass cage on each table._

" _You'll be doing this in groups. In less than half an hour, there should be one vial of mamba extract on each table. The effectiveness of your extract will impact your grade by 70%. Plus, if you can manage to finish the extract before time's up, you can have the opportunity to create poison using the mamba's venom as extra credit!" Yzma said, grinning._

"What kind of woman makes children make poisons and extracts out of live, venomous snakes?" Mr. Delay demanded in horror.

" _But Mom!" Izzy protested. "Poison creation is part of Poison Therapy! Plus, you haven't finished teaching us on how to make mamba poison!"_

" _That's the entire part of being evil, darlin'." Yzma said cruelly as she placed a finger on her daughter's chin, lifting it up. "Now's the time to start!"_

 _Izzy glumly sat on her chair, looking glum, while Ingwer tackled the black mamba that she and Izzy were supposed to share. David placed his middle and index fingers on his mamba's upper and lower lips while Manny pinned it to the table. The son of Dave the Octopus then used his fingers to forcefully widen the mamba's jaw upward and downward; the snake hissed until a crack was heard and the animal was unable to move its mouth anymore._

" _Izzy, I could use some help!" Ingwer said nervously. She was holding the mamba as far away from her as possible while it tried to slither out of her hands or bite her._

" _Time for plan B," Izzy said. She grabbed her backpack and looked through it until she pulled out a small vial with slime green liquid. She tossed as far away from her as she could. The vial went across the lab until it hit the classroom chalkboard. An explosion of green smoke came and a loud alarm was heard._

10 minutes later

" _You really nailed it, Izzy," Ingwer said._

 _The explosion that Izzy caused in order to avoid her mother's pop quiz had caused a somewhat toxic fire in the Potions Chemistry lab. Everyone in Dragon Hall (which looked like a dark castle with statues and gargoyles carved like dragons) had to evacuate and go to the jeerball field while a squad of Huns arrived to dispose of the fire the same way the Auradonian fire department would have done._

" _An explosion in order to ditch a pop quiz?" Jane Hook had come to the scene, accompanied by a twin version of herself without the glasses dressed in a darker pirate outfit (sword included) and had a green streak on her black hair; this could only be Chloe Hook, Jane Hook's older twin sister._

" _I didn't have a choice," Izzy said._

" _Well, in case you feel like you need to commit suicide, we got a plank ready for you to walk on at the JOLLY ROGER," Chloe said rather bluntly._

" _CHLOE!" Jane exclaimed._

" _What? It's the truth."_

" _It's OK," Izzy said. "I'm quite positive that my mom is going to ground me."_

" _Indeed." Yzma appeared, walking towards her daughter, looking angered. "Thanks to your stupidity, Headmaster Facilier is having me pay up for the damage. Consider yourself grounded for a month. Now let's go home!"_

" _Yes, mom." Izzy followed Yzma, who muttered to herself about her daughter being as dim-witted as her ex-minion._

" _Well, that went well," Chloe said sarcastically._

" _I just hope she's going to be alright," Ingwer said, her voice filled with guilt. "I can't believe I didn't stand up for her while Yzma berated her."_

" _I understand, Ingwer," Jane said, placing a comforting hand on Ingwer's shoulder. "But I don't think it would have improved Izzy's situation if you helped her. Your mom and Yzma don't really like one another."_

" _C'mon, sis," Chloe told Jane. "Dad will be waiting for us." The pirate twins left, leaving Ingwer to sit all by herself on a rusty old grey bleacher seat. She stayed there until a forty-year-old woman in an outfit and cooking apron with colors and candy designs similar to Ingwer's arrived. The woman had long, shriveled brown hair with hints of red licorice and blueberry colored streaks; cookies, candy canes, and peppermint candies were sticking onto her hair. Reading glasses were showing her purplish pink eyes. Despite her cheekbones and mid-age appearance, it was obvious that she looked a lot like an older version of Ingwer._

" _Hi, Mom," Ingwer sighed glumly._

" _Let me guess," the Candy Witch said. "You're in a sour mood because you didn't stand up for your friend, the daughter of the scary-beyond-reason hag I don't like?"_

 _Ingwer slightly chuckled at her mother calling Yzma 'scary beyond reason'. This made her feel somewhat better._

" _Honey, I know Yzma is a ridiculous jerkass towards her daughter," the Candy Witch said as she down next to her daughter, "but it's the Isle Of The Lost. Every mother in here has different ways of showing their children that they just want the best for them. Even if it means being abusive towards them._

" _You aren't abusive," Ingwer replied, looking at her mother._

" _Well, you know what they say: you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."_

 _The two witches laughed when the Candy Witch finished reciting the infamous catchphrase. It was rather unbelievable to Lonnie: she was seeing a live demonstration of what she had told Mal once but the latter told otherwise about her belief that even villains love their kids. Just seeing Ingwer Hexe interacting with the Candy Witch, who was known for luring children in order to eat them through her sweet treats and disguise, was touching._

" _Alright, it's to go home since the school's closing early. I do hope they manage to fix the ovens in my classroom," the Candy Witch said._

" _But Mom, aren't you afraid of ovens?" Ingwer asked in a teasing voice._

 _The Candy Witch laughed at Ingwer's joke as the two headed out of the jeerball field, going home._


	24. Autumn Spirit & Dream

Chapter 24: Autumn Spirit And Dream

October had now arrived in Auradon Prep. At this time of the fall season, people began to get excited in so many ways.

The first part was the upcoming Tourney game, Auradon Prep's very first Tourney season game. As much as the students knew that Jay and Carlos could easily have Auradon Prep win the trophy, the confidence that the school would win had increased ever since Haya joined the team. Rumors, the UNHOLY GAZETTE, and Coach Jenkins had told that whenever the team practiced for the upcoming game, any side Haya played on never let the opposing team score. As much as she was strong at attacking, Haya Yu had demonstrated that she was an ace at strategic defense.

"Her brain is hard-wired in the Hun military system," Gabriel had said when Ben and the Coach had praised Haya's superior skills. "She got the training they all get once their young: tracking, strategy, defense, attack, you name it. Don't forget: she is Shan Yu's daughter."

The second part was the upcoming midterm exams. Many students began going over what they learned throughout the entire school year. Evie and Doug were spending more of their 'study-dates' in order to work together on the upcoming exams. Macy was crazy about getting god grades, so she spent every mealtime going over her lessons more than she did with her food. "At this rate, you'll lose weight by the time the exams are over," Mal remarked.

Charles was probably the craziest: in order to prepare for the exams, he spent a majority of his free time in the library, reviewing and re-reviewing his lessons, giving himself practice questions, and borrowing any book from the library that was related to his lessons' topics. Since they missed spending time with Charles, Avery and Gitane decided to work with him on studying. Avery offered to help Charles with Religion Recognition, the only class where he did poorly, but when he saw that Charles always kept getting F- despite the fact that all his answers were correct, he complained to Fairy Godmother, who then called the Religion Recognition teacher.

"Did you even bother to read what he wrote?" Avery asked the teacher. "He answered every question correctly! I took that same exact test before, so I should know! Why did you give him a bad grade?"

"His father burned my house!" the teacher exclaimed indignantly.

"Mr. Dupont, I hire the teachers at Auradon Prep because I believe that they have a good sense of fairness among students. As much as I understand your grudge towards Judge Frollo, that does not mean that you should neglect his son's academic efforts. After all, did _Charles_ burn your house?"

The third part was the upcoming Halloween party. On that day, all classes would be cancelled and the student would celebrate the holiday as a one full day dressed up party. Many students were eager to order their outfits at the local dressmaker stores, and with the popularity of the outfits Lonnie got from Noir Du Feu, a lot of girls were hoping to get their costumes designed by the daughter of Blackfire.

Aside from the party at Auradon Prep, what really interested the Auradonian students was the Annual Halloween Gala on the Isle of the Lost: from what Evie and Macy explained, it was a huge party held at the Báthory Castle, home of Napoleon Moriarty and his parents, that every villain on the Isle went to, dressed in their best outfits symbolizing their evil selves and participating in festivities that took pride in their vile heritage. After so much begging from the students, Fairy Godmother agreed that they would all see the gala live from the crystal ball when it was about to begin.

Indeed, every one was in the autumn spirit.

 _Saturday Night_

"So we're clear? You boys are to stay away from this dorm!" Mal said.

"Yes, ma'am," said Ben, Jay, Doug, Carlos, Gabriel, Xaos, Charles, Finius, and Avery all together.

Two days before the Tourney game, the girls had decided to throw a slumber party in Audrey and Jane's dorm as a break party from all the exam studying and Tourney practicing. They were all gathered in front of the door, warning the boys to back off.

"No peeking, even from the windows," Macy warned. "That includes you, Gabriel!"

"Dang!"

"Carmine and McPrince are going to guard the door from the hallway," Audrey said. "If they see you, they'll warn us."

"Did you really have to dress them up in guard outfits?" Doug said, pointing at the bear cub and wolf dressed up in guard outfits meant for pets and shades covering their eyes.

"It gives them a style of authority," Kory said.

"By the way, Havak will be patrolling from outside the school…" Haya added.

"Jesus, Haya!" Charles whined. "You're making this seem like were at war!"

"We understand your conditions," Ben said. "Have fun!"

"So…what exactly are you guys going to do while we do our slumber party?" Lonnie asked.

"Let's see. Avery, Charles, Gabriel and I are going to go to town to the movie theater to see…" Finius said before the boys joined him and they shouted in glee: " **THE KING OF THE RINGS MARATHON FOR 4 HOURS!** "

"Doug and I are going to go fishing at the Enchanted Lake," Xaos said.

"Since when do you fish?" Gabriel asked incredulously.

"Ever since I fainted when I failed to kill a bull as a sacrifice to my dad."

"As for me, Ben, and Carlos, we're going to the Litwak's Family Fun Center & Arcade," Jay said. "We've been dying to play _Sugar Rush_ for weeks."

"You and your sweet tooth," Audrey teased her boyfriend. "Have fun!"

As soon as the friends (or couples) gave their good-byes and the boys left, the girls dashed to the dorm and locked the door tight.

"OK! So here's the program, ladies" Mal said. "Pillow fight, makeup and beauty tips, board games, and figure out what we want to wear for the Halloween party before we send the requests to Noir. Haya, Lonnie?"

"Meat buns and chocolate chip cookies covered, sis," Haya said as Lonnie pulled out a tray full of Hun meat buns and Lonnie's cookies.

"Evie, Gitane, Macy?"

"Makeup kits and hair accessories covered from the gypsy to wicked princess awesomeness," Gitane said as she put down three boxes full of the stuff.

"Jane?"

"I got the comfy pillows and sleeping bag covered," Jane said.

"Audrey, Kory?"

"We covered Monopoly, Scrabble, and Uno," Audrey said as she high-fived Kory.

"And I got the papers and drawing stuff needed in order to illustrate our dress requests," Mal said. "Ladies, we are good to go!"

 _Approximately an hour later_

"And here you go," Macy said.

She had just finished giving Jane curly hair using only a hairbrush and hair gel. The young fairy was caressing the curled ends of her short hair until she used a hand mirror to see herself and her face full of glee.

"Oh my gosh! I love it!" Jane squealed with glee.

"I knew you would."

"Ah, c'mon Haya!" Audrey complained. "This is the third time you're winning!"

Audrey, Gitane, and Haya were playing Monopoly for the third time and Haya was winning for the third time, much to the frustration of Sleeping Beauty's daughter.

"Can't help it," Haya chuckled in a smug tone before grabbing a meat bun and taking a large bite out of it. While they were playing Monopoly, Kory and Evie were busy applying nail polish to their nails: Evie went for dark blue while Kory chose pistachio.

"I got it, Lonnie!" Mal said victoriously as she showed Lonnie a sketch. "What do you think of this for your Halloween outfit?"

Lonnie, who was in the middle of reading a martial arts magazine, had a peak of Mal's sketch: it showed Lonnie wearing a one-strapped, backless, geranium pink empire waist dress with a silky twilight blue poet sleeve. The arm without a sleeve had a handcuff bracelet with a flower similar to the flower on the hairpin her mother once wore to the matchmaker. The ends of the dress had designs of blooming cherry blossoms growing upward and the shoes were black Cone Heel shoes. As for Lonnie's hair, it was drawn loose with a few hints of waterfall-styled braids and inserted cherry blossom flowers in it.

"I'm…speechless…" Lonnie said in awe.

"I gotta admit, Mal: you're impressing me right now," Haya said as she joined the two girls to see the sketch Mal made.

"Listen to you," Mal said teasingly. "And to think that you of all the people in the Isle LOATHES pink…"

"Just trying to picture Haya in pink makes me shiver," Lonnie said, pretending to be terrified. All the girls, including Haya, laughed.

"Actually…I kind of question the use of blue in the outfit," Gitane said. This got the attention of all the girls, most notably Jane, Evie, and Macy, who wore blue a lot.

"What's wrong with blue?" Jane asked.

"Nothing! I just…"

"Is it not dark enough?" Evie cut in.

"Well…"

"Or maybe there's not enough blue?" Macy joined in.

"Girls, please!" Mal said. "Gitane, you were saying?"

The gypsy girl sat up straight and took a deep breath before starting: "I think that your idea is great, Mal, but I feel like maybe the outfit could use a better balance of colors? Like…it's not too much pink but not too less?"

"So, maybe more blue?" Mal asked as she took back her sketch and began doing modifications.

"Yeah. Plus, I can definetly picture the cherry blossoms in Lonnie's hair with dark blue in them rather than mostly pink since almost every single inch of her dress is already pink…"

Gitane's words faded into oblivion after Lonnie heard her suggestion about making dark blue cherry blossoms. It suddenly reminded Lonnie of that cherry blossom tree with dark night blue petals from that dream she had weeks ago. The one with the mysterious dark knight. Memories of his alicorn shadow, his mystical behavior, his calm demeanor, the way he had touched so gently, and the way his icy blue eyes and her brown were locked on one another came flooding to her. She mentally sighed to herself about that sweet dream and the dream knight…

"Earth to Lonnie!" Kory's voice woke her up from her daydreaming.

"I'm so sorry!" she said nervously. "I got…distracted."

The eight other girls looked at her in confusion until they decided to all shrug it off.

"Anyway, we kind of agreed with Gitane and Audrey that the twilight blue in your dress should be replaced with a darker one," Kory said. "What do you think?"

Lonnie thought about it and the only thing she could currently think off was the dark blue cherry blossom tree with the dark knight standing by it. "How about nighttime blue?"

"Cool choice," Mal said as she put it down on her sketch.

"OK! Time for Dare-You-To-Sing!" Audrey said excitedly.

"Good," Haya said, suddenly pulling her precious guitar from Jane's mattress. "'Cause I brought this baby here!"

"How did you manage to put your guitar under my bed?" Jane asked in bewilderment.

"Lesson to learn: never question where a Hun hides his or her stuff," Macy said. "So, who do you dare, Audrey?"

"I dare Lonnie," Audrey declared, "to sing my mom's song…but in a better way. Haya, hit it!"

Haya began playing a tune on her guitar. Lonnie took a deep breath, thinking about her dream knight, and began singing:

 _I know you_

 _I walked with you_

 _Once upon a dream._

 _I know you_

 _The gleam in your eyes_

 _Is so familiar, a gleam._

 _Yet I know it's true_

 _That visions are seldom_

 _All they seem._

 _But if I know you_

 _I know what you'll do._

 _You'll love me at once_

 _The way you did once_

 _Upon a dream._

 _Once upon a time_

 _I dreamed we'd be together_

 _In love forever._

 _Once upon a night_

 _I was wishing for a never_

 _A never ending_

 _Once upon a time_

 _Once upon a night_

 _Once upon a wish_

 _Once upon a dream._

 _I know you_

 _I danced with you_

 _Once upon a night._

 _There we were_

 _Wishing this dance_

 _Would last forever all time._

 _I hope it's true_

 _This vision is more_

 _Than what it seems._

 _Cause if dreams come true_

 _I know what we'll do._

 _We'll dance once again_

 _The way we did then_

 _Upon a dream._

 _Once upon a time_

 _I dreamed we'd be together_

 _In love forever._

 _Once upon a night_

 _I was wishing for a never_

 _A never ending_

 _Once upon a time_

 _Once upon a night_

 _Once upon a wish_

 _Once upon a dream._

 _Yeah yeah yeah, yeah._

 _Once upon a night_

 _I was wishing for a never_

 _A never ending_

 _Once upon a time_

 _Once upon a night_

 _Once upon a wish_

 _Once upon a love._

 _(Once upon a time)_

 _(Once upon a night)_

 _Once upon a wish_

 _Once upon a dream._

 _Once upon a dream._

 _Once upon a dream._

 _Once upon a dream._


	25. The Tourney Game…Maybe?

Chapter 25: The Tourney Game…Maybe?

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the first game of the Tourney season!"

It was finally the great day! The day of the Tourney Game that everyone was looking for. The bleachers were filled with students roaring their school pride through cheers and outfits based on the schools' colors. The field was being occupied with tourney players taking their positions, with Haya, Jay, and Gabriel at the forward positions, Chad and Ben in the midfield, and Carlos in defense for the Auradonian Knights. Throughout the field were dispersed gypsy kids with video recording cameras in order to film the event. For some reason, one of them was sitting from the top of a flagpole in order to get an 'aerial' view.

Avery was granted to temporarily leave his post as Auradon Prep's bell ringer in order to come down on the mainland and witness the game. No need to mention that students were surprised to see Victoria, Lawrence, and Hubert joining him (no one knew of their existence). They went to the front row, where sat Gitane, Lonnie, Macy, Kory, Xaos, and Finius.

"Where's Charles?" Hubert asked.

"Right there," Gitane said, pointing at where the announcer of the game was standing, only this time, Charles Frollo joined him for the speaking.

"Since when does Charles do announcements in games?" Avery asked curiously.

"He did a _lot_ for the jeerball games and the Wicked Games tournament back on the Isle," Xaos said rather drily. "You wouldn't want to know."

"Thank you all for coming on this great fall day to witness the first seasonal Tourney game!" the announcer said. "With me is a special guest speaker today. The one and only Charles Frollo from the Isle of the Lost!" Cheers were heard from within the Auradon Prep crowd while the opposing team made a series of sounds combining shock, disgust, and protests. "Wow, Charles! You have quite a reputation!"

"You mean because of my dad or because I have old man's hair?" Charles asked teasingly through the microphone. This resulted with laughter coming from the announcer and everyone else. "I'm just kidding, Owen…can I call you Owen?"

"Sure thing, Charles," Owen said in a friendly tone.

"What kind of announcer is named Owen?" Xaos whispered to Finius.

"Beats me. This is the first I watch a tourney game taking place in Auradon Prep," the son of Macduff said.

"Folks, as you all know, the Auradon Prep Knights will be playing against the Falcons of Westerfield on this bright and sunny day," Charles declared through the microphone. "The rules are simple: play fair through team work, try to score in less than an hour with a five minute half-time, and don't kill or injure anyone!"

"I heard that!" Haya shouted from the field.

"Let the games begin!" Owen declared. Right when he said that, the referee blew the whistle and the games began, with Haya instantly catching the ball for Auradon Prep.

"Here she goes! Haya catches the ball, she passes it to Gabriel, who them passes it to Jay, who went up ahead on the enemy zone without getting hit once in the red zone!"

"Ben! Chad! Gabe! Pyramid formation!" Haya shouted. The boys nodded and began running in front of her, forming a triangle that shrunk in size as it got closer to the Falcons' defense, which was beginning to block Jay. "Jay! Back pass!"

The son of Jafar nodded at her order and then swished his stick backward, causing the ball to fly backwards to the approaching triangle. By then, the boys forming the triangle had their shoulders glued on one another, which provided space for Haya to jump on as if it were a trampoline, sending her flying five feet above, and hit the ball with her stick, sending it flying right inside the goals of the Westerfield Falcons.

"SCORE!" Owen shouted, with the referee blowing his whistle in approval.

"Haya scores for the Auradon Knights! Awesome!" Charles exclaimed. Cheers were heard throughout the Auradon Prep while the on-field players of Auradon Prep rushed to high-five Haya.

The game went on until, finally, Jay and Ben scored Auradon Prep's fifteenth score.

"THE GAME'S OVER!" Owen shouted through the microphone. "AURADON PREP WINS FIFTEEN TO ZERO!"

Kids shouted in pride. The friends in the bleachers cheered loud and clear. The gargoyles stomped with glee on the bleachers, nearly destroying the seats with their feet of clay. The gypsy kids took a lot of camera shouts as the trophy was being handed over to Haya.

"And the trophy of today's game goes to Haya Yu, the very first female Tourney player in Auradon history!" Charles announced with excitement. "Let's all hear it for Shan Yu's daughter!"

Mal, Audrey, Evie, and the other cheerleaders went through a cheering routine while Doug and the marching band played the Auradon anthem of victory while Haya was being hoisted by the team, her hands on the trophy, and her pride on the victory.

 _Later on in the evening_

"Are you sure you don't want to keep your trophy?"

After such a long victory party, Macy and Haya had gone back to their dorm. While Macy was cleaning up the mess McPrince made, Haya was busy carefully wrapping her trophy in order to secure it before putting it in a package box.

"It's traditional for Huns to give their won trophies to their parents," she said. "So I'm sending it to my dad."

"That's thoughtful," Macy said quietly. Her uneasiness didn't go unnoticed from Haya.

"Mace, what's wrong?" Haya asked, walking up to Macbeth's daughter. "You can tell me anything. We're best friends, right?"

"We are!" Macy said, reassuring her Hun friend. "It's just…Haya, what on earth do you think our parents are going to do to us if we don't follow their expectations, or worse, associated with their enemies?"

Haya understood what she meant: before leaving the Isle, her five peers were sentenced by their parents to continue their villainous lineage. Kory and Xaos were ordered to pursue their godly fathers' mischievous and chaotic misfits. Frollo wanted his son to destroy all gypsies and get revenge on his enemies. Gaston and Lady Macbeth had sentenced Gabriel and Macy with similar situations: kill Ben in order to avenge Gaston for Gabriel's case and kill a king in order to usurp a kingdom in Macy's condition. Haya never got such orders from her father: as much as he wanted her to follow the Hun traditions, Shan Yu did want his daughter to follow her own path. And Haya was aware of that. But Macy did make a point about associating with the enemy: how would Haya's father react if he ever learned that she was beginning to become actual friends with Mulan's daughter?

"I guess we'll just have to find out," she shrugged. "Personally, I don't mind being in this softie-full school."

"Including the ridiculous sexist jocks who have no idea of how awesome Haya Yu is?" Macy joked. The girls laughed at the joke, making them feel better of any doubt. Havak, who served also as Haya's alarm clock, screeched eight times right when the clock indicated 8pm.

"Oh god!" Haya realized. "I'm supposed to meet up with Charles and Gitane! They promised to put the video footage of the game on tape so that I could also send it to my dad! I gotta rush!" True to her words, she ran out of the dorm, leaving Macy speechless as she held on to her bear cub.

Haya ran through the hallways towards the western side of the school until she reached the bottom of the largest staircase in the school, where she was supposed to meet the couple there. Fortunately, she arrived way ahead of them.

"Enjoying lurking the school from within the shadows?" a voice asked. Haya turned to see that it was none other than Eleanor Malcolm, much to her displeasure.

"Waste your time with someone else, Eleanor," she said, making a 'go away' gesture with her hand.

"I'd waste my time with you if it wasn't worth it," the Scottish princess said.

"Yeah, well, you're gonna have to check the definition of 'worth it'. Take your time. After all, you might find it by the time you die at the age of eighty."

"Perhaps. But only _I_ can live forever."

Haya frowned at the familiarity of the sentence until she noticed Eleanor's green eyes turning into bluish, sharp ones. "Penna De Mort," Haya growled. "I should have known!"

" _Pleased to see me? No wait, hear me?_ " the cold voice of Voldemort's daughter taunted.

"What have you done to Eleanor Malcolm?" Haya demanded, baring her fists.

" _Chill your spine, Hun girl. I merely put a spell on this Auradon garbage that allows me to see and hear whatever is going on in this disgusting excuse of a school. Besides, what do you care about this brat who's done nothing but pester you merely because you are a villain's child?"_

"As much as I don't like her, I've got this 'no-do' on my list that involves manipulating innocent people, especially when they've done nothing to _you._ "

" _I've forgotten how honorable you are!_ " the voice of Penna De Mort cackled through the mouth of Eleanor Malcolm as if the Scottish princess were none other than a mere puppet.

"I definetly remember you never being interested in participating in the Battle of the Bands until my band and I left for Auradon," Haya said drily. This caught the attention of Penna De Mort, who made Eleanor scold with her eyebrows.

" _I'll put this clearly,_ " she said menacingly, nearly making the tough Hun girl cringe. " _Spill one word of my spying Auradon through one of them and one of your comrades dies._ "

"Feel free to take Charles Frollo," Haya shrugged. "He's been a nuisance to everyone ever since he was born."

" _I already have personal affairs to deal with that half-blood hybrid_." Penna De Mort's voice sounded rather disgusted. " _But in your case, I'm quite positive that you wouldn't want me to spill the beans to your father about Fa Li Lonnie. Am I right?"_

Haya froze when she realized that Voldemort's blasted child was aware of her friendship with Lonnie. Fear began to overwhelm her, for if there was one thing that she knew her father never tolerates with her, it's dishonesty. She learned it the hard way when she took one of his animal trophies for Show-And-Tell in kindergarten without his permission and lied about it until she was caught putting it back in its place. Ever since then, Shan Yu had taught her the tough lesson that a Hun never lies.

She was highly aware of the situation Penna De Mort was putting her in: Haya still hadn't told Shan Yu that she had genuinely befriended the daughter of his sworn enemy yet, and if Penna De Mort dared to tell that to Shan Yu herself, Haya would end up facing his anger for lying.

"Fine. I won't tell," she grumbled. "But you must swear on the River Styx that you won't harm anybody at Auradon Prep if I do so."

" _If your silence is the reward, then I vow on the River Styx_ ," Penna De Mort said.

"That also means removing that spell you put on Eleanor." Haya gave the possessed Eleanor a death glare.

" _Fine! Just keep your silence until the Villains Comet approaches. Then you can babble the truth to your good-doer friends!"_

Haya watched as Penna De Mort's bluish eyes turned back into Eleanor's green ones until the princess fell unconscious. Haya rushed to lift her up.

" _One more thing_ ," Penna De Mort's voice echoed beyond Haya's eyesight. " _If you ever encounter the dream-hopper, tell him that our unfinished business will soon be over!_ "


	26. The Knight's Return

Chapter 26: The Knight's Return

Lonnie dreamed that she was at the Tourney Game, cheering in the bleachers as Auradon Prep scored the final point. All the kids in the bleachers screamed in excitement and began stampeding their way down in order to reach the tourney players like a herd of paparazzi and fan girls riding buffalos. Lonnie tried to make her way through the crowd, but she couldn't. She just didn't have enough space to squeeze into the crowd; being so preoccupied with the crowd made her lose track of where she was putting her feet in and ended up missing a step. A yelp came from her mouth when she saw her face nearly hitting the row of stairs.

Suddenly, she felt strong grasps grabbing her by the waist, which both saved her from smashing her face on the metallic staircase and made her realize that her blue-and-gold Auradon Prep school spirit outfit exposed her navel once she felt the mysterious hands touching her.

Then, she somehow got teleported out of the bleachers just across the Tourney field, near Auradon Prep's goalie, where she could see the crazy crowd rushing towards the winning team and praising the winners.

"That was a close one," Lonnie breathed a lot.

"You really have a way of getting my attention," a familiar, mystical remarked. Lonnie froze when she realized that the voice sounded very familiar. Suddenly, the strong grasp turned into a gentle, soft, and somewhat innocent touch. She slowly turned to face the one who was holding her.

"You," her face brightened.

"Indeed," the dark knight said, smiling at her. "It took me a long while to finally find you as your…solid self in the Dreamworld." He gallantly let her go so that she could stand up normally.

"I haven't seen you for almost half a month," Lonnie said. "I almost feared that you were just a dream."

"Well, being a dream-hopper does mean that I get overloaded with dreams being scrambled together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle waiting to be in order. I _did_ see you in other dreams, but you were like anything else in dreams that I visit: an illusion that I could phase through without being felt, seen, or heard. But now…I finally found the one I knew." He gently lifted Lonnie's chin up, making the Chinese girl stare at his icy blue eyes. Aside from her father and grandfather, Lonnie had never gotten her chin lifted up by another man, and the dark knight was giving her foreign sensations that really seemed to pleasure her.

"I…I failed to ask your name the last time we saw one another," Lonnie stammered nervously. The knight's smile faded and was replaced with a look of uneasiness as he let go of her chin.

"I prefer not starting off knowing one another through names and origins," he said honestly. "My reputation is mostly full of prejudice views from others due to my background."

"I'm sorry," Lonnie said, feeling bad. "Perhaps later on in the future, when we fully know one another personally and can trust one another?"

"With pleasure, milady." The knight kneeled before her in a chivalrous manner, causing Lonnie to blush even more.

"Please, you don't have to bow like that!" Lonnie said sheepishly. "I'm just a normal girl!"

"Who goes to Auradon Prep and saw the first seasonal Tourney game, which was won by the Auradon Knights thanks to Haya Yu from the Isle Of The Lost." The knight stood up and gave a quick look at the crowd far away from them. Lonnie was amazed by the accuracy of his words.

"Does dream-hopping help you get information on current events?" she asked curiously.

"Past, present, and future…occasionally for the future," the knight confirmed rather proudly.

"That's…GAAAH!" Lonnie screamed, holding on to herself as some sort of foreign pain appeared, becoming tighter by the second. The knight rushed to hold her in his arms. He lifted her up in a bridal style and raced away from the Tourney field through the woods that circled the campus of Auradon Prep. For about five minutes, Lonnie saw only flashing green lights. The pain still got tighter until the knight eventually stopped at a hill that seemed like twenty miles away from Auradon. From the hill, Lonnie had a great view of the Dreamworld version of Auradon Prep and its infinite greenness. An indescribable light show emitted by the sun was seen in the ethereal atmosphere.

"It's amazing," Lonnie sighed at the view. Suddenly, she began shivering. The knight gently put her down on the soft grass before keeping his head away from her and covering his eyes with one hand in the process. "Why is it so cold? And why are you covering yourself like that?"

"You should see for yourself," the knight said in a twisted tone of discomfort. He snapped his fingers, causing for nighttime smoke to create a vanity mirror that showed to Lonnie's shock that her clothes had shrunk to the point where it seemed like she was wearing a tight mini skirt and bra.

"WHY ON EARTH AM I LIKE THIS?!" she shouted, disgusted by her appearance.

"This is what I was talking about dreams scrambling with one another," the knight sighed in exasperation while he was still covering his eyes. "Many always end up tangled with one another. This just ended up being tangled with the one that Gabriel Legume is currently having: a harem full of attractive females in bikinis."

"The pervert," Lonnie gritted her teeth from the cold.

"Consider yourself lucky that you haven't seen the transparent microkini that he dreamed Macy Beth in," the knight gagged.

"I pity your job," Lonnie said drily. "How do I get out of this?"

"Your in the Dreamworld," the knight simply said. It didn't seem like an answer to Lonnie until she realized what he meant: since this was _a dream_ , she could dream of whatever she wanted to wear. She closed her eyes and thought of her favorite light blue and magenta dress that she wore on Family Day. Instantly, the cold feeling disappeared and when she opened her eyes, she was in the exact outfit that she pictured herself in, dress, shoes, hairstyle, and accessories included.

"Problem solved. You can uncover your eyes now," she told the knight. The latter uncovered his icy blue eyes, which froze at the of Lonnie, making the dark knight very speechless.

"W…wow," he stammered nervously, losing his calm demeanor. A hint of deep dark blue appeared on his dark coal skin.

"You've got a blue blush," Lonnie giggled as the knight sat down next to her on the green grass. "I guess you're not really into girls who show off?"

"To be honest, I hardly interact with other people my age in reality," the knight said rather glumly. "My reputation as a dream hopper, alicorn knight, and powerful sorcerer causes others to run away in fright before they even try talking to me."

"How awful," Lonnie said, shedding one small tear as she put a comforting hand at the knight's right one. He looked at her gesture with curiosity before seeing the tear that was leaking down her cheek and used his spare index finger to catch it.

"A tear of human sadness," he said as he and Lonnie gave a look at the pearl shaped liquid that sparkle with a dim blue light; Mulan's daughter watched with awe as he but the tear in his mouth and grimaced. "Quite a foul taste, if you want my opinion."

"You can taste emotions?" Lonnie asked.

"If I want to. But it hardly ever happens due to my like of interaction with other people." The knight looked at Lonnie and gave her a warm smile. "You are the very first person I've actually manage to interact with socially without sending you in a fright." His comment caused Lonnie to shyly blush.

"Well, you're the first guy I've ever met to be different than the other guys that I've encountered in my life," she genuinely said in return. "Most of them prefer the royal and attractive ones while I'm just the normal one from a common little village."

The knight held her hand and caressed it. Lonnie felt pleasurable sensations as he did so. "They say that that the flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all," he said, "and right now I can see it's not a lie."

Then, to Lonnie's surprise, he gave her hand a soft kiss and the Dreamworld began to fade.

 _Tuesday morning, in Kory and Lonnie's dorm_

"AW, COME ON!" Lonnie shouted as she sat up on her bed and pounded on the covers. Her shout startled Kory, who fell of her bed in a thud, and caused Carmine to run around her mistress making noises like those of a yapping dog.

"What in Jotunheim?" the daughter of Loki groaned as she got up and tried to keep her pet wolf away from her face as it tried to lick her cheeks.

"Sorry," Lonnie groaned. "I just…dreamed about my dream boyfriend for the second time, and every time we are off to a romantic moment, I end up waking up!"

"I get that a lot when I dream of my perfect wedding with my boyfriend," Kory said as she got up and grabbed a hairbrush to clean up her messy hair.

"You dream about _your wedding with Xaos_?" Lonnie asked as she got out of bed.

"Sure. It involves us getting married at a chalet in a range of snowy mountains, and instead of a nuptial bed, we'd have a nuptial Jacuzzi." Kory grabbed a towel and a pair of new clothes. "I'm going to take a shower. I'm definetly gonna need to have a clear mind for the first day of midterm exams."

The demigoddess left the room, leaving Lonnie alone with Carmine, who jumped on her bed and rested next to her.

"Oh, Carmine," Lonnie sighed sadly as she stroke the wolf's head with one hand and contemplated the other hand, which her dream knight had kissed and made the sensations so real. "When will I see him again, not in a dream, but in real life?"


	27. Gypsy Magic And Mark Of Villainy

Chapter 27: Gypsy Magic & Mark Of Villainy

It had been a very long three-day period of midterm exams. For three days, the students had to do almost six different exams per day. There wasn't enough time for leisure during those days; even Charles had to take a break of broadcasting the UNHOLY GAZETTE so that he could give his attention to his exams.

But now it was finally Thursday. The last day of the midterm exams. Once Avery rung the final bell announcing the end of the last exam, kids were shouting in relief and instantly ran out of the classes to chill off. The next day would be a day off so that they could relax, and for those who would be interested, there would be a full day live show of the Isle of the Lost at the auditorium. Nobody except the obvious refused.

Once Charles was done with his final exam, which was Controlling & Understanding Magic, he instantly went to his studio in the West Wing. The gray-haired boy usually needed some private space whenever he went through hard tests, which he had endured far too much back on the Isle. Because of the high I.Q that he got at a young age, his father had forced into higher school levels, which ended up with Charles entering Dragon Hall as a twelve-year-old freshman among much older peers. His 'nerdy jerkass status' was one of the things that the Isle's youngsters used to mock him off, along the fact that he was Frollo's son and also half-dark gypsy. And nobody liked Frollo.

Thinking of how Frollo's shadow ruined his childhood made Charles feel horrible. While some of his peers knew parental care and childhood leisure, he only knew the dark empty room where Frollo kept him captive, the whip that hit him whenever he disobeyed, the descendants of Frollo's guards who mocked him until he began acting abusively towards them…

CRASH!

This was the noise that came from the mirror in the West Wing that he smashed with his fist. Blood trickled on his knuckles and glass shards reflecting his past sins filled the floor. Charles got angry once the shards showed the times his soul was broken: his mother's death and Penna De Mort manipulating him for her own personal gain.

"GAAAAAAAAAHHH!" he screamed, blasting a ray of magic at the shards, reducing them to ashes. For a second, he nearly felt anger and hatred overwhelming him until he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. His purple flaming eyes turned to see Gitane, who was showing both calm concern and fear in her hazel eyes. Seeing her with even a small hint was enough to make Charles snap out of it and give a regretful, sorrow look.

"What have I done?" he whimpered as he let his body slip downwards and his butt sit on the ground.

"You broke a mirror," Gitane said as she sat down next to him.

"Not the mirror. My life." Charles buried his head into his arms, crying until something touched him in the legs. He looked and saw Petite Charlotte jumping on him like a little puppy. Charles tearfully opened his arms, letting the goat hop on him and lick his face, cheering the boy as he cuddled his precious pet.

"So…you have gypsy magic?" Gitane asked.

"One of the things that make me a monster," Charles said quietly as he stroke Petite Charlotte's head, which he stopped when he noticed that Gitane was glaring at him and tapping her fingers on her crossed arms. "What?"

"You're making it very hard to slap you whenever you sell yourself out," she said, sounding more annoyed than usual.

"I've experienced worse," Charles replied calmly.

"Don't tell me it's another of your father's…"

"Nope. Torture at the Penna De Mort style." Charles instantly hugged the goat tighter, a look of trauma filling his face while Petite Charlotte struggled successfully to escape his arms. Gitane realized what he meant.

"What has she done to you?" Gitane asked in horror.

"She threatened to find me a fate worse than death and Frollo if I didn't do whatever she told me." He shook in fear even when Gitane gave him a comforting hug.

"You see what I mean? You aren't the monster. She is."

"But I…" Gitane placed a finger on his lips, indicating him to shush.

"Don't think so much about your past, Charles," she said. "You aren't evil as you were forced into being. Auradon is your home now."

"And you, Avery, and the gargoyles are my family," Charles smiled.

"BAAAH!" Petite Charlotte jumped between the two of them and licked their faces.

"I haven't forgotten you, P.C!" Charles laughed as he got up and held up his goat in the air.

"P.C?" Gitane got up. "You nicknamed Petite Charlotte after a computer?"

"Is it a crime?" Charles asked as he put down his pet.

"Nope."

The two of them chuckled. His maroon eyes and her hazel ones locked on one another again. It was certain, they felt an invisible gypsy magic between them as if it linked them permanently.

True love, obviously. The two of them embraced into a passionate kiss until something stung Charles in the right arm. He let go of Gitane and yelped as he clung on to his arm, wincing in pain.

"Charles!" Gitane exclaimed. Without asking his opinion, she forced him to sit down and she puled up the right sleeve of his black long sleeved shirt. Her eyes popped when she saw a grey mark on his arm, just bellow his elbow. A grey mark depicting a moon glyph of a waning crescent, with a dragon clashing with a Christian cross on the non-crescent part.

"Charles! What is that?" Gitane exclaimed.

"My mark of villainy. I used my dark gypsy magic to hide it when I came to Auradon. Looks like it's burning from covering it with too much magic."

"You don't say." Gitane took a deep breath before slowly waving her hand above Charles' mark: a small glow of white light with luminescent sun glyphs appeared and healed the mark, causing the burning pain to disappear.

"I see you have light gypsy magic," Charles pointed out.

"I do. As for your mark…I'm afraid that now it will permanently be unable to be concealed by magic."

"Dang it!"

"Why on earth do you have this? Did Frollo…"

"Don't be ridiculous. He couldn't have put it on me. A mark of villainy permanently comes to a villain when he or she comes of age. It symbolizes what kind of villain you are and seals your destined evil future."

"You've got to be joking," Gitane said in disbelief.

"Nope." Charles snapped his fingers and a smoky display of various symbols hovered above them. Gitane looked in shock when she saw that the symbols looked very familiar. Realization hit her when she saw Mal's reflected purple and black dragons shaping a heart, Evie's broken crown, Carlos' black-and-white crossbones, and Jay's hissing cobra. She saw six others that must be those of the new villainous descendants: Charles's mark, crossed arrows and daggers that could only be Gabriel's, Kory's howling wolf breathing a piano key, Macy's crowned bear accompanied by a semiquaver, Xaos' drum and ankh drumsticks, and Haya's falcon rising from a guitar.

"Many of our marks symbolize our evil heritage," Charles continued explaining as he got up. "However, they all represent our inner villainy." He made a motioning finger towards him and his displayed mark of villainy flew in front of him.

"So you're just going to let those marks tell you on how to lead your life?" Gitane asked in disbelief.

"If you knew when and how I got mine, you wouldn't be asking this question," Charles said sourly. "I got it at a much younger age than my peers."

"How did you get?" Now Gitane was nervous when she asked the question. Charles' mark glowed on his arm as he gave his answer with venom in his words and glared angrily at Gitane.

"I got mine after I watched Frollo murder my mother in front of me and swore that he'd pay for it."


	28. Reality Show, Episode 5

Chapter 28: Reality Show, Episode 5

"Where's Charles?"

Lonnie's question got the attention of the group of friends as they and a lot of Auradon Prep students and teachers gathered in the auditorium after a very early breakfast. The question came out when it was noticed that Charles wasn't in his usual spot and Gitane seemed to be in a rather gruff mood.

"I'm not sure," Avery said. "All I know is that he and Gitane might have some sort of argument that kind of heated up."

"Now you know why I prefer to be single," Haya said smugly. "This is why relationships always end up so badly."

"Yeah, I'm not sure this is helping the situation," Finius pointed out. "So, where _is_ Charles?"

"He left to go to Auradon's Culture Museum after being given permission by F.G," Gabriel said, shooting a mistrustful eye at Gitane. "Makes you wonder which gypsy made him want to spend an entire day away from her."

"Whatever!" Gitane snapped as the screen began to turn on.

 _It was now 7 am and students were gathering in the large Main Hall of Dragon Hall, which looked very much like the inside of a very dark cathedral, only with hallways full of purple lockers, black doors leading to classrooms, and a spiral staircase shaped like a dragon leading one floor up. The diverse villainous students seemed to be talking to one another about exams and did you study this or not._

"How could we forget?" Mal facepalmed herself. "Today is also midterms at Dragon Hall!"

"Looks like Auradon Prep and your new school have something in common," Ben commented.

"Not really."

" _Attention, everyone!"_

 _All the students' eyes turned to a group consisting of a dozen adults, two of them being the Candy Witch and Yzma. The voice came from an African-American man dressed in a New Orleans voodoo outfit. He carried a dark cane with him. When the students at Dragon Hall saw him, they all lined up in a military style._

" _Yes, Headmaster Facilier!" they all said unison._

" _As you all know, today is your last day of your five-day midterm exam week," the voodoo witch doctor and headmaster said as he walked in front of the lined up students the same way a snake would slither until it's found its prey. "Let me congratulate all of you, minus the exceptions, for the grades you've received so far from your previous exams. You have shown that you are indeed rotten to the core!"_

" _Yes, we are!" the students agreed._

" _Today, you will be tested on your last six remaining classes. And remember, you must consider this as a competition! Put your best evil in all of this and make your parents proud!"_

" _Yes sir!"_

" _Now, recite with me the motto of Dragon Hall!" The students and faculty joined the headmaster in a recital that sounded kind of creepy._

" _Dragon Hall, the home to the worst of them all. Dragon Hall, where we learn to make our enemies crawl. Dragon Hall, where the size of our wicked heart is small."_

"That was weird," one of the Auradon students said as the screen showed the students dashing to their exams.

"Yeah, we did that every time Headmaster Facilier made announcements," Xaos commented.

" _Adagio, you wouldn't mind putting a little background music?" Facilier asked a female adult version of Sirenius Dazzle as they walked down a dark hall. "You know how I like background music going with my students' competitive attitudes during exams."_

" _The feeling is mutual," Adagio Dazzle said. She sadistically licked her lips as she pulled out what appeared to be a purple Ipod with a case picturing a golden diamond colliding with a treble clef. She did some tapping until a dark rock song came loud and clear from its speakers._

"Hey! That's our song 'The Darker, The Better'!" Macy realized out loud.

 _ **Kory: It happens when we hear a doubt.**_

 _ **It happens when we hear the jeers.**_

 _ **But we know how to make their prides cry out.**_

 _ **It makes us drink victory and disown fear.**_

 _A bunch of teachers were walking down a row of tables in Darts and Craft to see what Stromboli's students made that was a combination of art and weaponry: Amanda Von Stiltskin carved a spinning wheel with the spindle actually popping out in order to stab your heart once you hit the machine's pedal. Ruby Kyle made a cat painting using lead in her painting. But what really impressed the teachers to the point were they dropped the papers they were writing on was when they saw what Erich Eale, the son of Eureale, crafted: a stoned statue of the janitor…which the blue gorgon boy created with his own eyes._

 _ **Kory: Why should we feel remorse**_

 _ **When it makes us feel superior?**_

 _ **Dark Rulers: Superior**_

 _ **Kory: We feel delight when we make you feel worse.**_

 _ **Do you get the picture?**_

 _The scene then changed to what appeared to be a demonic kitchen full of stoves, tables, and ovens: the Wicked Bakery classroom, no doubt. Students were lined up by table in groups, presenting their pastries to another jury of teachers, one of them being the Candy Witch obviously. Penna De Mort and Minuit Sparkle baked purplish éclairs that turned into live snakes once one of the teachers tried to touch it, causing fear, surprise, some comments from the teachers, and Penna De Mort giving a rather smug smile of pride. Adele Hitler baked a cherry Donauwelle with poisoned frosting. But the frosting of the exam was the pair of Ingwer Hexe and Izzy Yzzi: a Black Forest cake the size of a wheelchair, revealing its inside to depict Henry Fuseli's_ _The Nightmare_ _painting once a proud Ingwer sliced the cake in half. All the jury members dropped their pencils at the sight of the cake except for the Candy Witch, who was obviously proud of her daughter's accomplishment and had the look on her face that clearly said she knew this would obviously happen._

 _ **Dark Rulers: The darker, the better.**_

 _ **We are the best when we're our worst.**_

 _ **It just proves that we have the most power.**_

 _ **Why should we be put into good that's forced?**_

 _ **We're better off being the cruelest of the all.**_

 _ **You're only place is in the shameful hall.**_

 _The scene then shifted to a garden room full of vicious looking plants and what appeared to be a scientific lab: the class of Botanical Biochemistry. The students, led by Professor Violet Vanderfleet, demonstrated their knowledge of using rays in order to create evil plants. The two best groups were Gothy Gothel, daughter of Mother Gothel, and Gertrude Husk, daughter of Geraldine Husk, with their sunflower possessing poison darted petals, and Florence Poison Isley with Vergil Vanderfleet, the son of the class teacher, with their lethal Venus Flytrap that emitted instant-trance smoke._

 _ **Haya: We respond to our true evil.**_

 _ **Yeah, we rise above the rest.**_

 _ **We don't need to have any equal,**_

 _ **Since we're proving we're the best.**_

 _Hannah South and Imora Sombra, daughter of King Sombra, managed to surpass their peers in General Evil Monarchy. The ambitious Sirenius Dazzle and the Breathtakers defeated the Hook twin sisters' piano duet in Basic Siren._

 _ **Dark Rulers: The darker, the better.**_

 _ **We don't need to show any proof.**_

 _ **When it comes to evil, we're obviously better.**_

 _ **Best if you quit before we make your guts poof.**_

 _ **Because when we're darker, darker, darker,**_

 _ **We are far better!**_

" _You don't stand a chance!" Noir Du Feu spat at Napoleon Moriarty as they faced off in Criminal Design._

" _Ha! You wish!" the dhampyr scoffed._

" _Nothing can stop me now!" Victor Witherdale, the son of James and Victoria Witherdale boasted in Gymnastic._

" _I'm more manipulative than you!" Dolflynn Blowhole, the son of Dr. Blowhole, told François Tremaine before the exam of Advanced Manipulation Therapy._

" _Mes chattes_ __ _could easily dispose of you, mon ami," François winked at his lackeys, the daughters of Lucifer the Cat, Belle and Levia T. Zeebub, who snickered at his comment._

" _I know I can do this!" Darcy Fae, the daughter of a Dark Fairy said confidently before she took her Villainous Witchcraft exam._

 _ **Dark Rulers: The darker, the better.**_

 _ **We are the best when we're our worst.**_

 _ **It just proves that we have the most power.**_

 _ **Why should we be put into good that's forced?**_

 _ **We're better off being the cruelest of the all.**_

 _ **You're only place is in the shameful hall.**_

 _ **The darker, the better.**_

 _ **We don't need to show any proof.**_

 _ **When it comes to evil, we're obviously better.**_

 _ **Best if you quit before we make your guts poof.**_

 _ **Because when we're darker, darker, darker,**_

 _ **We are far better!**_


	29. Reality Show, Episode 5,5

Chapter 29: Reality Show, Episode 5.5

" _This was exhausting!" Mystère groaned as he slouched on a purple Victorian couch made of shining, yet expensive fabric. The blue-skinned mutant held a large black envelope in his fingerless gloved hands._

" _Watch it, Mystère! Those couches cost a fortune!" Noir's voice reproached._

" _Sorry, your Highness."_

 _It was now past 3pm. After such long days spent on exams, the supervillainous kids had gathered at the Evil Fashionista Store, Noir Du Feu's high-class fashion store, which must have been well-managed and taken cared off by the alien princess, since the inside of the store looked more like a ballroom from a Russian palace filled with rows of clothing, accessories and shoes, luxurious fitting rooms, and Tamaran soldiers filling the positions of security guards and cash registers. Noir Du Feu and her clique, consisting of Mystère Darkholme, Ben Tron, Florence Poison Isley, Penny Cobblepot (an orange, curly haired girl who liked to dress up like her father The Penguin, suit, hat, monocle, and bird-themed umbrella), and Ruby._

 _Several words could be used to describe Noir, the daughter of Blackfire and the young Isle Of the Lost fashionista who began delivering outfits to Auradon. For one, she was extremely attractive, even with her alien flaxen colored skin and purple star shaped birthmark right bellow her right eye. Her shape was quite slender and hard to miss despite the purple trench coat, black miniskirt, lavender leggings, and black flat boots she wore. The princess' long, black and purple-streaked hair was pulled back by a purple-M shaped crown, symbolizing her lineage as Tamaran royalty and resembling her mother's own crown; such a crown she never took off in public and never even changed hair accessories. Noir's personality was a combination of sassy, feisty, and authorative. From what Auradon Prep eventually learned, she was one of the rare descendants like Ruby who were born and lived quite a while outside of the Isle before the Auradonian authorities and the Teen Titans finally defeated Noir, Blackfire, and their loyal subjects and sent them to the island prison while Noir was barely ten._

 _Noir, in the meantime, was focused on sewing something that couldn't be seen right now by the Auradon audience. It was impressive on how she could be so focused by both the conversation between her fellow supervillains and the outfit she was working on._

" _I'm nervous to find out what I got on the exams," Penny said in a shy voice as she held a black envelope similar to the one that Mystère held._

" _How do the teachers manage to grade over fifty students in less than five days?" Ruby asked. Contrasting the last time she was seen, Catwoman's daughter seemed to have integrated within the supervillain gang._

" _Never question whatever is going on in the teachers' brains, Rubes," Noir said as she careful slid what appeared to be miniature, sparkling pearls shaped like stars through a thread before sewing it._

"She's so dexterous," Lonnie said in awe.

"Noir's always like this when it comes to fashion design," Macy said.

 _The gang began opening their black envelopes while Noir still dedicated her focus on her work._

" _Noir? Aren't you going to open your envelope as well?" Ruby asked._

" _She's lived on the Isle of the Lost for about six years and her grades in every class never change," Florence said as she pulled out a grey paper from her envelope and began looking through it before sighing in relief. "Phew! I got a diverse ranges of Ms and Ns! My highest grade was an M+ in Botanical Chemistry, obviously, and my worst grade was N in Unfair Negotiation."_

" _Congratulations, Flo," Noir said, briefly turning away from her work in order to give a smile to her pink-haired friend. "You did great!"_

"M? N?" one of the Auradon Prep teachers asked.

"The two highest sectors in grading at Dragon Hall," Mal explained. "M would be the equivalent of A while N would be for B."

"Do they have a meaning?" Ben asked.

"M is for 'Monstrous' and N is for 'Nefarious'."

"Some way of grading," Finius remarked.

" _My average is going around M-," Penny smiled as she looked through her paper. "M for Devilish Literature being the highest and N- in Animal Abuse. Daddy will be so proud of me!"_

" _You sure it's not your pets who'd be proud of you, Pens?" Noir joked as she covered her face with a purple welding mask before adding some 'heat' to her work. While the alien was busy working like a blacksmith, Penny opened her penguin-designed backpack and pulled out a baby penguin, a weasel, an asp, a poison darted frog, and a black widow. If Snow White had a redheaded, supervillain version of herself, that evil counterpart would have been Penny._

" _C+ in Dark History of Evil Deities?" Mystère sounded worried as he glanced at his sheet. "As much as I hate this class, Mom's gonna kill me when she sees that I got a Criminal Plus on that exam."_

" _That'll teach you for that prank you made last month on Professor Eris," Flo remarked in a dry tone. "Shapeshifting into one of the chaos reincarnations? What were you thinking?" As a response to her sarcasm, the son of Mystique suddenly transformed into Florence. Ruby and the Auradon audience jumped at the sight of Florence's doppelganger._

" _Shapeshifting into one of the chaos reincarnations? What were you thinking?" Fake Flo mocked as she walked in the center of the room, acting all sassy. The real Flo made a grumpy sound as she pouted on her seat while the rest of her gang (and Auradon Prep) giggled while Mystère morphed back into his normal self._

" _Cross-bending is quite a complex, molecular methodology," Ben Tron spoke. This was the first he actually spoke so far during the conversation, and he sounded like a stereotypical android with a robotic voice (duh). Right now, his laser red eyes were looking at a holographic 3D display of his results. His peers watched as he used his mechanical fingers to sort out through the charts and grades. "Best appraisal: Technevilology, taught by Professor Eggman, with an Monstrous Plus. Worst appraisal: Pirate Sailing, taught by an unnamed Turkish marauder from THE JOLLY ROGER, with a Monstrous Minus."_

" _Translation: you did perfect. As usual," Noir commented as she fought against a set of tangled gossamer silk ribbons._

" _My originator was Ultron. I am an artificial intelligence. I was designed for perfection."_

" _You certainly weren't designed to speak in proper English," Mystère said sarcastically._

" _ **You**_ _were certainly not designed to possess rational intelligence in order to evade certain punishing after defying an educator," the android replied in a similar sarcastic tone. Everyone laughed while Mystère looked dumbfounded at the android's joke._

"Geesh, Ben. You're evil robotic counterpart has quite a sense of humor," Audrey joked.

"Ha, ha." Ben said uneasily.

" _Looks like my overall midterm average is a C," Ruby said as she looked through her grading report. "That's pretty good." Unfortunately, Ruby's peers did not react as calmly as she did: Florence and Penny gave uneasy gulps, Mystère looked as if he thought Ruby was kidding, Noir literally turned away from her work when she heard what Ruby said, and Ben Tron looked indifferent. Noir reacted first by hurrying towards Ruby and snatching the report from her hands, reading its content._

" _Ms, Ns, and Cs going up and down as if you were hiking every mountain in the Himalayas," Noir said in a nervous voice. "'Average level of villainy'. 'A malevolent sense of mischief on a somewhat acceptable level'. 'Keep up in your villainous rise'. Ruby, do you realize what this means?!" The rise of Noir's voice made the other supervillainous kids uneasy._

" _Uh…that I'm doing OK so far at being a villain?" the girl asked as she nervously toyed with her nose ring._

" _Well…" Noir hesitated before actually pondering about it. "On the positive side, you can say that. On the negative side, it's practically saying that you're on the verge of degrading to a goodie-doer."_

" _A goodie-doer?"_

" _B.T, show her the diagram."_

 _The android nodded and, after a few clicks, his chest core displayed a colored virtual display of weighted grades in the villainous curriculum. Instead of the classic color gradient from green to red to depict the grades going from best to worse, the gradient was from black to white. The deepest black was labeled '_ _ **Monstrous**_ _', the lightest black '_ _ **Nefarious**_ _', the deepest gray '_ _ **Criminal**_ _', the medium gray '_ _ **Dreadful**_ _', the lightest gray '_ _ **Ordinary**_ _', and the purest white '_ _ **Angel**_ _'. No need to explain that going down from Monstrous to Angel was like going down from A to F. Each of the six sections was divided in three parts._

" _Here's the catch," Noir explained as she used Ben Tron's virtual display as if she were doing a class presentation. "To prove that he or she is rotten to the core, a villain must avoid at any cost being at or bellow average." She pointed at the second part of the_ _ **CRIMINAL**_ _, which represented the grade C. "If you score above the average, it proves that you are wicked material."_

" _But if you are in the average area…you might be considered as a…reformee," Penny joined in. Her voice sounded disgusted at the term of 'reformee'._

" _Correct," Noir said gratefully before going serious again. "And if you go bellow that...well…" Her voice faltered._

" _Don't tell me. I'd be hero material," Ruby guessed. "But I don't think that's the main problem."_

" _Look, Ruby. I know it's only been a month since you came to the Isle, and you_ _ **are**_ _trying your best to fit in socially and wickedly," Noir said sincerely as she rested a hand on Ruby's left shoulder. "But the locals here don't take heroes or reformees very well. You'd…"_

" _The point is we don't want you getting hurt," Mystère said while Ben Tron made his display dissolve. "You might have been in the gang for only a short while, but you're still a member of the family."_

" _I know," Ruby said in defeat. "I just…I thought it might be easier to fight in and improve on my criminal skills once I more people of my age with a similar background, but expectations are just rough! I mean, is every villain on the Isle so demanding to their kids when it comes to following the evil traditions?"_

" _Logically speaking, the biological demands are inferior when it comes to offspring born within exceptional perfection," Ben Tron said._

" _What's the English translation?" Ruby asked confused._

" _The English translation is that parents here aren't very demanding when their kids are perfectly evil," Mystère answered._

" _Perfect like Noir?"_

" _Thank you! I'm so flattered!" Noir said teasingly as she went back to her work._

" _But some demands can be downright ridiculous," Penny said as she gave a dead rat to her asp. "Did you hear what Jareth did to Crystal last week?"_

" _You mean the part where she kept crying because he called her a worthless piece of goblin piss?" Ruby said in disgust. "Yeah, the entire girls' restrooms flooded. You're sure Crystal Maze is related to Jareth?"_

" _Pretty sure." Noir clasped her hands. "DONE! What do you think?"_

 _The villainous kids looked at her work and gasped, their faces full of shock and amazed wonder. The Auradon Prep audience had a similar reaction._

"Lonnie," Haya stammered. "That's…"

"My dress," Lonnie finished in a similar tone of disbelief.

 _The dress looked exactly like the design that Mal had illustrated, but in a more dreamy state: the midnight blue poet sleeve was made with the gossamer silk ribbons from earlier, which made the sleeve appear to move like dark ocean waves. Her dress still had designs of dark blue cherry blossom trees, only Noir also added designs of the flowers' petals flying in the air, giving it an aura of spring. The star-shaped pearls that Noir used earlier were sewn on the dress in a way that made the dress sparkle as if it they were actual stars in a colorful night sky._

" _Holy Magneto!" Mystère almost removed his shades in order to have a better look until Ben Tron prevented him from doing so by pushing the shades back on the mutant's eyes with only one hand push._

" _It's so beautiful!" Ruby sighed._

" _Who's it for, Noir?" Penny asked. The redhead had removed her monocle and rubbed it with a cloth in order to see clearly. Ironically, her pets had miniature sunglasses in order to avoid getting blinded by the sight._

" _One of the students at Auradon Prep. Don't ask why I'm bothering, because a part of it is the fact that Haya Yu is sending me checks from her bank account."_

" _Since when do Huns have a bank account?" Ruby asked._

" _Beats me. But they pay me well." Noir pulled out a big stash of cash from her pockets. "You guys want to split it? I can't keep everything for myself."_

"SERIOUSLY, HAYA?" Macy exclaimed. "YOU PAYED HAYA WITH YOUR BANK ACCOUNT?"

"Yeah. So?" the Hun girl said flatly.

"And…your dad's okay with that?" Avery asked.

"My dad let's me buy whatever I want."

" _I still wonder for who the dress is really for," Penny wondered as Noir split the cash evenly among her friends._

" _Oh, it's for Mulan's daughter," Noir said instantly as she stacked her money portion back into her pocket._

" _Shan Yu's daughter paying a garment for the progeny of his sworn enemy?" Ben Tron asked. "I'm surprised Haya hasn't killed her yet." His remark made Lonnie freeze in fear at the mention of Haya killing her._

" _I hope not," Florence said as she fanned over the cherry blossom designs. "I can't imagine anyone who'd want to murder a lover of prunus serrulata from the rosaceae family!"_

" _This is what you get for being Poison Ivey's daughter," Mystère rolled his eyes._

" _Holy shit!" Ruby exclaimed when she saw the time on her wristwatch. "I forgot that I promised Mom to buy her some pastries from one of the pirates at the Davy Jones Cove!"_

" _Go through the back!" Noir said as she opened a black door that led to a staircase going downward. "Avoid the alleys and run on top of the roofs. It's much faster!"_

" _Understood!" Ruby said as she grabbed her stuff and ran off._

" _And don't forget to lie about doing prayers every night in case you run into Frollo!" Mystère called out before Noir closed the door after Ruby left._

" _OK, that wasn't necessary," Penny remarked. Her pets made noises in agreement._

" _What? You know how annoying Frollo is, always asking people if they pray to the Lord or not."_

" _You want an annoying French holy loony?" Noir snarked as she pulled out a carton box. "Take his son Charles."_

" _That's one VK I don't regret losing," Flo agreed in disdain. "Hopefully Auradon got rid of that jerk as soon as he put his foot there."_

"How can they say that about Charles?" Gitane exclaimed suddenly.

"Yeah! I mean, it's like he's as bad as his dad," Avery added. All the villainous kids in the room either whistled or coughed in order to avoid answering. "No, don't tell me. You all think he's a jerk."

"I don't," Gabriel said.


	30. Reality Show, Episode 5,75

Chapter 30: Reality Show, Episode 5.75

 _Sometime around 5pm. The scene had changed from Noir's boutique to some barren stone hill that was being walked down by a wispy blonde haired Caucasian girl wearing a particularly sparkling purple and black dress with dirty brown long sleeves and pants. She wore a shoulder cape and waist that had maze designs, purple-with-violet- dots heels, beady earrings, and a dull tiara hidden by her bangs. The girl was in a rather grumpy mood as she stormed down the hill._

"Wow. Crystal doesn't look good today," Evie said in a concerned tone.

"That's Crystal Maze?" Gitane asked. "The daughter of Jareth the Goblin King?"

"You heard of him?" Macy frowned.

"When your parents tell you a bedtime story that basically teaches you to be careful of what you wish for, they just love to use Jareth as an example."

" _Damn that bunch of goblin piss," Crystal mumbled to herself. "Oh, Crystal! You worthless piece of goblin piss! Oh, Crystal! Why can't you be perfect like Sarah Williams? Oh, Crystal! Why did I have to have you as my daughter and not Sarah Williams as my queen? DAMN THAT SARAH WILLIAMS! IT'S ALWAYS SARAH WILLIAMS!"_

 _Crystal kept mumbling angrily until she marveled at the sight of a puddle of mud and let her body drop in it as if she were dropping on a bed. She put herself in a position that would make it seem like she were sunbathing at the beach instead of mudbathing in a puddle of mud._

" _Well at least mud appreciates me better than Father," she said in a calmed voice._

" _I appreciate you," someone said. Crystal looked up to see Ruby Kyle, slightly bended, looking at her right above her face, nearly blocking the sun._

" _Hello, Ruby," Crystal said flatly._

" _So, is mud the best way for you to deal with your problems?" Catwoman's daughter asked curiously._

" _All of my problems are the same. They're related to my dad."_

" _Let me guess: he ignored you again when you came back with the midterm grade?"_

" _Even when I brought a report full of nothing but Dreadful Minuses, he completely disregarded me and said that even a mortal like Sarah Williams could do better than me, an immortal goblin princess. So I lost it and said something nasty."_

" _What did you say?" Ruby asked. Crystal got up and whispered it to Ruby's ear. The Auradon audience couldn't here what Crystal was saying, but judging by the look of epic shock on Ruby's face, they just guessed that the words weren't pretty._

" _He didn't punish you even for_ cussing like that _?" Ruby asked in a surprised tone. Crystal, in the meantime, snapped her fingers and a glass ball glowing with purple haze appeared, causing Crystal's clothes and hair to lose any sign of mud. "Nice crystal ball."_

" _Thank you," Crystal said as she snapped her fingers again and the ball disappeared. "And no, the only reason my dad overreacted was because I insulted that stupid human he had a crush on ever since she made that stupid wish of having his goblins take her baby brother away. It's not fair. He prefers his enemy over me."_

" _Well, maybe he's just hiding the fact that he might actually care for you," Ruby suggested. "I mean, Jareth lets you go to school, gives you a_ castle _to live in and servants for you to boss around. People respect you as a royal."_

" _All I ever wanted from him was paternal attention," Crystal replied dismissively._

" _At least you have a dad. I never knew mine."_

" _Sorry. So, what brings you to the neighborhood?" Crystal quickly changed the subject._

" _I need to go to Davy Jones Cove for a quick errand, but every sign towards the place I run into in this area are making me walk in zigzags. And I thought, well, since your dad is an expert in mazes…"_

" _You thought I'd be an expert?" Crystal stretched her hands. "Follow me." She snapped her fingers and she and Ruby were instantly on top of the hill, which had the most amazing view ever! The entire Isle of the Lost could be seen. On the Northwest side going all the way down to the Southwest, the grim, crowded city that the villains call home. At the South could be seen a large bay with crammed houses by the shores and one giant, broken pirate ship anchored at the beach as if it were a chained castle. Just in front of Ruby and Crystal stood a large stone castle centralized in a large, vast labyrinth with hedges, stones, bogs, and more. But the most impressive area was the one that paralleled the city from the Northeast to the Southeast side: a vast, dark forest that seemed to be infinite as it faded away into a gray mist. The only things that rose above the mist were two distant mountains, a big and a small one._

"What a view," Gitane gasped in awe.

" _What a view," Ruby said. "I didn't realize that the Isle was so big."_

" _So small Auradon has made the island from the outer view," Crystal commented as she used a picture to show a visual of the Isle from the way Auradon saw it: a small island with a barrier around it. "But within it lies a world that grew bigger whenever the evil soils of Mother Gaea were added to it."_

" _You mean that, aside from banishing every villain here, they also stripped off every strap of evil land and glued them here?"_

" _Yep. So, you want to go to Davy Jones Cove?"_

 _Ruby nodded._

" _Then you'll have to go southward if you leave from the city. You can see the bay from here." She pointed at the large bay from earlier._

" _Thanks," Ruby said. "By the way, you have a good view of the Isle from here."_

 _Crystal nodded in acknowledgement. "This hill is pretty useful for me to figure out which way to go."_

" _Does it help you figure out how to go through your dad's labyrinth?" Ruby pointed at the labyrinth ahead of them._

" _Nah. I only go through the labyrinth when I want to avoid my dad…to no avail. Usually, I use my crystals to teleport myself in and out of the castle."_

" _One more thing. What's with that creepy, misty forest?" Ruby pointed at the forest on the Eastern side of the Isle. The mention of the area made Jareth's glare darken and her mouth grimace._

" _That, my friend, is the one area in the entire Isle where you definetly don't want to go to and get lost," Crystal said in a warning tone. "It's the one place where the evil forces of nature-actual nature- run amok. Only daredevil villains or wicked spirits would dare to live there. Try to guess what you might find there."_

 _Ruby pondered a bit. "Maleficent's thorn forest?"_

" _Yep."_

" _Bald Mountain?"_

" _That's the highest mountain rising above the mist."_

" _Elephant Graveyard?"_

" _The one hyena place you don't want to go to."_

" _The Tarrian River?"_

" _It's current flows from that forest."_

" _I can't think of anything else."_

" _King Sombra's castle, the Hun Territory, the Vinter and Frost Estates, the old Mount Vesuvius, Riddle Graveyard Post, the Dragon's Teeth, the Everfree Forest. I could go on for ages."_

" _So I can tell that Imora Sombra and her dad, the Huns, the White Witch and Forkjølelse Vinter, Jack Frost and Harold Frost, and a diversity of sirens live there. But the volcano, graveyard post, and …Everfree forest?"_

" _The old Mount Vesuvius is the volcano that destroyed the town of Pompeii," Crystal explained. "Its border is marked by Riddle's Graveyard Post, which is merely the grave of Tom Riddle Senior…"_

" _Tom Riddle Senior?" Ruby frowned._

" _Penna De Mort's paternal, Muggle grandfather. If we want to get into deeper details, Penna lives in the volcano, which is surrounded by the ruins of the ghost town."_

" _She doesn't live with her dad anymore?"_

" _Beats me. He died during the Battle of Hogwarts, but for some reason, when the heroes resurrected the deceased villains in order to imprison them, Voldemort wasn't on the checklist for some reason. Penna De Mort has been living off on her own ever since she was locked up in the Isle. Let's be grateful that he isn't here: if Penna is ten times worse than Maleficent, Voldemort was a hundred times worse than his daughter. After all, he created her."_

"Voldemort isn't in the Isle of the Lost?" Jane asked apprehensively. "What if he's still alive?"

"If he did, he would have come back for Penna," Mal said. "My mom told me that back in the days when he raised Penna, he treated her as property rather than his own child."

"Well, since he doesn't know how to love, it makes sense," Carlos said.

" _What about the Everfree Forest?" Ruby asked. "I've never heard of it."_

" _Most humans haven't," Crystal said. "You know our peers Minuit Sparkle, Moonlight Glimmer, Sirenius Dazzle, and Imora Sombra?"_

" _You mean Penna's jeerleading lackey, the purple communist, Professor Adagio Dazzle's son, and Green-Flamed Princess of Hatred?" Ruby's answer made Crystal chuckle._

" _Yeah. These guys. So, as you know, the Isle of the Lost also hosts villains from other realms. And the parents of our four peers come from a realm filled with my least favorite animals; that realm is called Equestria."_

" _Wait. Didn't Professor Eris say that it was full of ponies?"_

" _It is. So anyway, Midnight Sparkle, Starlight Glimmer, Adagio Dazzle, and King Sombra were arrested for the crimes of illegal dimensional rifts, stripping off individual talents in order to form an 'equal community,' feeding off negative energy through hypnotizing music, and usurp an empire before spreading darkness and darkness all over the world. Once arrested, they were taken from Equestria to Auradon, where they were given permanent human forms and exiled to the Isle."_

" _I get that, but what about the Everfree Forest?"_

" _Well, since they brought Equestrian criminals to Auradon, so was the Everfree Forest, where animals go crazy, plants have minds of their own, and there are dark spirits on the loose. It was brought to the Isle with the criminals. No one, not even the four Equestrian villains and their children dare to go there. Even King Sombra and Imora had their castle located near the exit of the Infinite Forest of Evil-that's what we call that evil, natural place- and far away from the Everfree Forest."_

" _So no one lives there?"_

" _Well, there are only a few residents. You see, aside from the other four, Auradon brought from Equestria a particular villain."_

" _Who?"_

" _Nightmare Moon." Thunderclaps were heard when Crystal said the name. "An evil spirit that was born through the bitterness and jealousy of the youngest, immortal ruler of Equestria. For a thousand years, Nightmare Moon was exiled in the moon after she possessed the young ruler until the Equestrian good guys freed the ruler and put Nightmare Moon in a dormant state. When the Auradonian authorities took her and gave her a human body, they assumed she'd be vulnerable while locked in the Isle. Problem is, with the rule of ancient magic, she kept her powers but didn't leave the Isle."_

" _Like Penna De Mort," Ruby grimaced._

" _Exactly. But while Penna De Mort chose a life of cruel solitude, Nightmare Moon settled in her castle- an old ruined castle that used to be located in the Everfree Forest-and created a descendant of her own."_

" _Nightmare Moon has a child?"_

" _He's called Artemis Nightmare. No one has really seen him. All we know through rumors is that he's a teen, immortal, homeschooled while taking lessons from Dragon Hall by fax, and can spread illusions like his mother. But no, no one has ever seen him in person."_

" _Doesn't he ever come out?"_

" _Nightmare Moon won't let him. But we do know that, unlike a majority of us, his powers rival those of Penna De Mort and she doesn't like that."_

 _The girls remained quiet as they watched the sun beginning to set over the ocean, giving a rather interesting light to the Isle._

" _You want to walk with me to Davy Jones' Cove?" Ruby asked._

" _Sure. Why not?" Crystal Maze said and they began walking down the hill. "I haven't had some Grilled Fish À La Barbossa for ages. We'll make it faster by going down the east trail."_

" _Remind me again why the signs are all jumbled here?" Ruby asked._

" _An old joke of Jessie Joker. As much as my dad is in charge of 'putting directions' in the Isle, he does enjoy watching people get lost."_

 _The girls giggled as they walked down the stony, east trail that led through a series of cactuses and thorned bushes while just in the west trail, which went through a grove of grey, yet nice, trees and black roses, a boy accompanied with his polar bear and werewolf were having a chat._


	31. Reality Show, Episode 5,8

Chapter 31: Reality Show, Episode 5.8

" _I can't do this!" the boy said nervously in his thick Russian accent as he paced around, frantically fidgeting his fingers in the process._

 _The boy was none other than Forkjølelse Vinter, the son of Jadis the White Witch, an evil, coldhearted queen who was known for ruling the realm of Narnia with an iron fist, even to the point of freezing the nation for an entire century and turning those who defied her into stone using her magic wand, which was now in display at the Auradon's Cultural Museum._

"Forkjølelse is so handsome," a female voice was heard in the auditorium.

 _That wasn't a lie after all. For a prince of ice, Forkjølelse was quite handsome, with a tall, average stocky body. His peanut brown colored hair was short and slightly curly, his cedar colored eyes dazzling like brown icicles, and his skin ranging from medium pale to barely tanned. His Russian snow outfit was designed with complex, geometrical blue patterns as if the tailor had practiced sternly for a geometrical design exam. His Ushanka winter hat and epaulettes were made of icy blue fur._

 _Yep. Forkjølelse looked like a dashing surfer who went snowboarding in Siberia._

" _You've got to be kidding me," the werewolf muttered with its Norwegian accent. At first, it looked like a grey wolf the size of a Golden Retriever that could talk, but once it was revealed that it was Fengrim, the son of Maugrim, Jadis' most trusted wolf henchman, no one had any other remarks. "You've been dying to ask your beloved maiden out on a romantic moment, and now that your friend Napoleon Moriarty gave you a plus one ticket for the Halloween Gala, you can invite her as your plus one!"_

"ABOUT TIME!" Haya exclaimed rather loudly, much to the surprise of others. "It took him like six years to finally ask her out?"

"And while we're out of the island, to boot it all!" Jay grumbled.

"Uh…whom are we talking about?" Jane asked nervously.

" _But what if she says no? What if somebody else already invited her to the gala?" the ice prince kept freaking out until Fengrim howled angrily at his face._

" _Your Highness, please!" the werewolf told the prince. "The more you stress, the less likely you'll be going near pirates to ask their charming lady out!"_

" _Stress is bad for ya," the polar bear suddenly said in a Swedish accent. The giant beast nuzzled its big nose on Forkjølelse's chest, making the prince pet the polar bear's big, furry white hair. "Ya'll get wrinkles."_

 _Fengrim rolled his eyes in annoyance while Forkjølelse and the Auradon audience chuckled, amused._

" _What Dumbjörn is saying, your majesty, is that stress is pointless," Fengrim's voice than carefree and sentimental. "After all, you had the spark once you saw that charming pirate maiden. Dumbjörn, hit it!" The polar bear suddenly pulled out a Nordic horn from God knows where and began blowing a varying tuned tempo that almost sounded as if the winds were trying to play jazz music; Fengrim, in the meantime, hopped on top of a giant rock, making him rise above Forkjølelse and Dumbjörn, and howled a melodic tune._

 _Fengrim:_ _ **It is debatable that a villain's heartless.**_

 _ **His or her heart may be the darkest.**_

 _Dumbjörn:_ _ **Oh! Such despair!**_

 _Fengrim:_ _ **Heroes believe that evil lacks such capacity.**_

 _ **But they'd be surprised that we might lack such apathy.**_

 _Dumbjörn:_ _ **Can my heart be beyond repair?**_

 _Fengrim: Shut up, you fool._

 _Dumbjörn: That's not very nice. You tears to make a pool._

 _Fengrim groaned while Forkjølelse gave an unintentional look at the Auradon public, his face saying 'Can you believe those two?' until the song went on._

 _Fengrim:_ _ **There's a spark that comes in every villain's life.**_

 _ **It brings them something that makes than yearn for something other than strife.**_

 _ **Such a spark is only found when two villains**_

 _ **Find infatuation within such sweet visions.**_

 _ **All the stars shine like diamonds in the millions,**_

 _ **When the spark makes their souls collide.**_

 _Fengrim was joined in singing by what appeared to be dark, transparent spirits that came out of the dark trees. They flowed around the trio, with smoky silhouettes of people or creatures falling in love with one another. One of the spirits dropped a black rose by Forkjølelse's feet. The latter picked it up and smelled it amorously._

 _Fengrim:_ _ **The spark can come from first sight.**_

 _ **Or maybe the first time a melody is heard.**_

 _ **Soon, a villain finds his or her heart in flight,**_

 _ **Reaching for the clear skies like a free bird.**_

 _Spirits:_ _ **But such a spark comes only once in a lifetime.**_

 _ **Aaaaaaaaaaaah.**_

 _ **Once the destined villains get the spark, they're destined to be together forever.**_

 _ **Aaaaaaaaaaaah.**_

 _Fengrim:_ _ **The spark isn't bound by the midnight chime.**_

 _Spirits:_ _ **Aaaaaaaaaaaah.**_

 _Fengrim & Spirits: __**The spark guarantees a villain's happily ever after.**_

 _They all stopped singing when, all of a sudden, a sweet voice from somewhere afar._

 _Voice:_ _ **He's the fairest prince I've ever met.**_

 _ **He was made to finish my romantic duet.**_

 _ **And I hope we will eternally reminisce**_

 _ **How we came to love**_

 _ **And the spark made us grow and grow love**_

 _ **Since first we shall know love through true love's kiss.**_

" _It's her," Forkjølelse said, his face full of enamored emotions._

" _Then go!" Fengrim exclaimed as he shooed away the spirits, snatched away the Nordic horn from Dumbjörn's paws and scratched the latter's butt with his claws, causing the polar bear to roar and charge at the ice prince. Fortunately, the latter jumped and landed right on top of the polar bear's back, riding him down the trail. "And don't you dare come back until your maiden says yes!"_

" _I shall!" Forkjølelse replied confidently until he and Dumbjörn rode down the trail, through the woods and thorny blushes of black roses until they went downhill, just in front of a large hedge with a few thorned black roses growing in it._

" _She's behind the hedge," the ice prince said. "I know it."_

" _But how do ya go through the horns?" the polar bear asked. To answer his question, Forkjølelse moved his fingers on the hedge's leaves, creating a circle of frozen leaves. He moved his fingers again and the frozen part of the hedge completely melted into water, creating a passage through the hedge for the White Witch's son to go through._

"Can I have similar powers for a Christmas gift?" Finius joked.

"SHUSH!" all the villainous kids in the auditorium said. "We've been dying to see this moment happen!"

 _Forkjølelse sneaked inside the tunnel he created like a fox trying to sneak in a burrow. Finally, he stopped once he reached the end, to see what was at the end. The next thing everyone knew, his face was struck with love. For right after the hedge, in a small, tropical-like garden occupied by a diversity of exotic birds and parrots, stood Jane Hook, feeding baby scarlet macaws with sunflower seeds in the most gentle way, while singing to herself. Forkjølelse's pupils almost became heart-shaped as he stealthily sneaked out of the tunnel and picked a dark rose from the hedge before making his way to an unsuspicious Jane Hook._

 _Jane Hook:_ _ **I've dreamed of a storybook ending, a prince charming, and a fairytale coming true.**_

 _ **Deep down inside of me, I want to believe they still do.**_

 _Jane Hook became distracted as she started twirling, giving Forkjølelse the opportunity to take the hands of the pirate girl. At first, Jane Hook was surprised to feel masculine hands touching her, but when she heard a familiar voice singing and turned to see Forkjølelse Vinter making her dance, she smiled and joined in._

 _Forkjølelse:_ _ **And a secret spark came and taught,**_

 _Forkjølelse and Jane Hook:_ _ **It's our favorite part of the story,**_

 _ **And I must admit I want to make it too with you.**_

"AAAWWW!" everyone in the auditorium sighed.

"He finally did it," Xaos sighed. Gabriel began sniffing and wiping his eyes.

"Gabriel? Are you crying?" Avery frowned. But Gaston's son said nothing.

" _Fork! What a surprise!" Jane Hook said. "What brings you here?"_

" _Well, let's just say I heard a sweet buccaneer melody that shivered my timbers," Fork joked as he bowed gentlemanly in front of Captain Hook's daughter, whose glasses couldn't hide the red blush on her cheeks._

" _My, my. And they said that you were cold-blooded," she said in a similar manner as she made a ladylike curtsy._

" _Never," Fork said before suddenly going serious. "Well…maybe except for that one time when Charles Frollo made a fool out of me with his gossip so I turned him into an ice statue. He sneezed for an entire week. Although I'm still confused of why his father locked him up for a month."_

" _Oh!" Jane Hook scratched her head embarrassingly. "Well, funny you should mention it. Chloe and I were responsible for him getting grounded by Frollo…"_

 _ **Flashback with flashback music**_

 _ **A younger Charles Frollo stepping out of a closet, shivering and cluttering his teeth like a chicken that suffered from a cold shower. A few lockers away, the Hook twin's heads popping out and giving each other smirks as they come up with an evil scheme. Later on, Chloe Hook tripping Charles Frollo, who ends up falling down the stairs in Dragon Hall until he falls head first in a barrel of rum and whiskey combined. Ten minutes later, the Hook twins pulling him out and making him spin while they sing 'Another Irish Drinking Song' until they let him wobble down the hall, drunk and burping bubbles as he sings the stupid songs. A disgusted Claude Frollo has his 'infested by sinful, human liquor' bastard dragged back home by his guards.**_

 _ **End of flashback with flashback music**_

" _Oh!" Fork said before chuckling. "That was pretty wicked."_

" _Yeah. Dad thought that are prank was well-deserved for Frollo's 'creepy hybrid'."_

"WHY ON EARTH IS EVERYBODY SAYING THIS?" Gitane exclaimed. "CHARLES ISN'T THAT HORRIBLE!"

"Says the girl who made him want to leave to the museum for a day rather than come here with his friends," Gabriel snorted before Gitane could protest even more.

" _So…uh…Jane. Do you have…any plans for Halloween?" Fork asked nervously._

" _Not really," the latter said rather sadly. "As usual, Napoleon's parents didn't send me any single or plus one tickets for the gala. Which always ends up with my sister taking me to the gala as her plus one."_

" _Professor Moriarty and the Bloody Countess are quite selective, I'll admit that. I mean, what could you expect from aristocrats?"_

" _You're a prince."_

" _My dad is an ice carver, so I'm technically half royalty, half-commoner. Besides, how often do you see me going to the high-class events with my pompous, rich peers?"_

" _Fair point." Jane sighed. "Sorry I'm being…out of good form. I'm…slightly upset with my sister."_

" _What did she do?"_

" _Oh, she invited Smee's bumbling daughter, Willa Smee, as her plus one to the gala."_

" _And you don't like it?"_

" _Well, it's only fair because Chloe promised Willa last year that the next time she'd get a plus one ticket, she'd take Willa as her plus one," Jane said calmly. "Although I still wish to go there."_

" _Since we're talking about it," Fork's face beamed. He pulled something out of his winter coat: two silvery tickets whose shining fabric reflected on Jane Hook's glasses. "I was wondering if you'd come to the gala with me as my plus one."_

 _The pirate girl was speechless. "You…you want me to go with you to the gala?"_

" _Yes…if you're interested."_

"Say yes! Say yes!" Macy said.

"Come on! Don't say no!" Ben pleaded.

"Doug! Stop beating the drums!" Finius told Doug, who was beating a fanfare tempo.

" _ **DEFINETLY YES!**_ _" Jane Hook squealed in delight. Fork definetly had a look of victory on his face, which turned into a look of smitten puppy love when his date kissed him on the cheek. Everyone in the Auradon audience cheered._

 _Suddenly, out of the trees dropped party balloons and confetti, along with a large sign saying 'CONGRATULATIONS!' and a bunch of pirates, adults and kids, jumped out of the bushes._

" _CONGRATULATIONS!" they all cheered._

" _What? You…how…?" Jane Hook stammered dumbfounded._

" _You've been spying on us?" Fork demanded._

" _Well duh!" the couple was then suffocated in a bear hug by Chloe Hook and some blonde girl wearing a red headscarf, a blue-and-white striped tank top, blue trousers, and brown flip-flops. "Finally! It took you that long to finally go out on a date?"_

" _Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Jane Hook said as she and Fork pulled away from the hug. "We aren't dating! We're just…"_

" _Going out as friends," Fork filled in for Jane Hook._

" _Oh, don't be so modest, lad!" All eyes turned to see a dark haired man in a red pirate coat, outfit, and hat, walking towards them. All the pirates bowed before him. Once they saw his hooked hand, everyone knew that this was none other than Captain Hook, Chloe and Jane's father. Jane and Fork looked at the captain as he walked towards them. "We all know that you've laid eyes on me daughter for years!"_

 _Jane looked at Fork. "I didn't look_ _ **that**_ _much!" he protested._

" _I don't think my dad meant it_ _ **that**_ _way, Fork," Jane said._

" _Finally! After so many years of praying to Davy Jones, me daughter Jane has gotten the spark with the ice prince!" Captain Hook said giddily as he grabbed the two in his arms. "Ye wedding's preparations must be started at once!"_

" _WEDDING!" the pirates cheered._

" _WEDDING!" Chloe and the blonde girl (Willa Smee) cheered._

" _ **WEDDING?**_ _" Jane and Fork gasped._


	32. Reality Show, Episode 5,9

Chapter 32: Reality Show, Episode 5.9

 _As the sun was setting down, Minuit Sparkle and Jessie Joker were watching the pouring waters of a fountain that seemed to be bottomless._

" _Who knew that Queen Narissa's magical well would have different powers on the Isle than it did back in Andalasia?" Jessie Joker remarked as she dangerously sat on the edges of the well despite the fact that she could most likely fall in it. The daughter of the Joker and Harley Quinn had her blonde-black-streaked hair tied up in three ponytails the same way she had them during her first appearance in the Battle Of The Bands. She didn't wear her clown makeup, revealing her peach colored face; of course, she wore a black masquerade mask over her purple eye-shadows. Although she didn't wear another tacky harlequin outfit, Jessie did don an_ _ **extremely**_ _revealing outfit consisting of a red micro shirt, a black micro shirt, and black ankle strapped heels. Her left leg still exposed her 'J.J' tattoo, which was revealed to be her name's initials._

" _If you weren't so dumb, you would," Minuit Sparkle snorted. Now that she could be seen more clearly, everyone got a better look at her appearance: purple skin with silvery dots on her face that formed a horned mask over her eyes, which looked as if their irises were made of moving shades of pink and purple. Her black-and-purple hair was tied up in a ponytail that almost looked like a demonic bird's wing. Minuit wore the dark purple jeerleading outfit of Dragon Hall and open-toed purple heeled-boots, which revealed her violet polished toes. The six-pointed stars that were seen on her clothing back in the Battle of the Bands were actual six-pointed stars of various colors moving on her hair, earrings, and clothes the same way blood cells move in the blood system._

" _For your information, I already know what currently happens if someone falls down there," Jessie snapped as she got back on the main ground and began confronting Minuit. "Unless the person has magical powers, he or she drowns in that well."_

" _FYI, clown face, I knew that_ _ **way**_ _before you entered evil kindergarten!" Minuit hissed._

" _Well I saw someone being pushed in that fountain, so there!"_

" _As if!"_

" _Pathetic idiots," a voice said._

 _Minuit and Jessie turned to see Penna De Mort ascending from the skies, her wings spread out, giving her a demonic entrance. Everyone in the Auradon audience shivered at the sight of Voldemort's daughter. She wore a dark green, long sleeved shirt with a purple V-neck collar shaped like a snake, revealing her seducing cleavage. Her mini, a teal, snake designed belt held a black sheath skirt. Her leggings had designs of snakes meddled with one another as if they tried to do a serpentine version of the rat king circle and her purple chunky heels looked as if they were razor sharp. Penna's jewelry consisted of violet, snake wrist bracelets, a diamond riviere necklace made of purple baby snake-like diamonds, viper fang-shaped pearls, and a golden conch shell in the middle, and dropped earrings shaped like coiled cobras. Penna's black, teal-streaked flowed in the wind like a snake slithering._

 _Besides her snake-motived clothing, Penna herself resembled her cherished animal: her bluish eyes had a hard stare with venomous, coldhearted ambitions in it. The way she moved so smoothly with her hips swaying and her folded wings trailing behind her gave her even more snake like characteristics._

" _I guess I've told you several times on how I wonder why I have an abrasive jeerleader and an air-headed circus clown as my personal, dimwitted minions," Penna spat, revealing her white teeth to be fanged._

"Good heavens!" F.G gasped. "She's still as monstrous as I remembered her!"

" _We'll improve, Penna," Minuit bowed in acknowledgement. "Although Jessie needs the most improvement."_

" _Hey!" Jessie snapped._

" _Did you locate him?" Penna interrupted._

" _I did," Minuit said immediately. "Right as were speaking, he's walking near the edge of a cliff, right where the Auradon ocean waves crash into sharp rocks."_

" _Excellent! What better way to get rid of vermin by having blood shed on rocks?" Voldemort's daughter licked her crimson tongue over her dark pink lipstick covered lips. She then took out what appeared to be a clump of dough from who-knows-where-in-her-skirt and held it out in the air. "With this, obviously!"_

" _With dough?" Jessie asked. Minuit facepalmed herself while Penna gave a deadly 'Are you kidding me?' glare._

" _IT'S EARTHBORN DIRT, YOU DOLT!" Minuit shouted loud enough for Jessie to cover her ears. "SHE SHAPES IT INTO WHATEVER LIFE FORM SHE WANTS AND USES MAGIC TO BRING IT TO LIFE! IS IT SO HARD FOR YOUR CLOWN BRAIN TO MEMORIZE THIS?"_

" _Don't bother, Minuit," Penna said flatly as she began forming the dirt into a cookie version of the human body. "She doesn't take any magic using classes like you and I."_

" _I don't see the point of having a mortal associate while I have diverse magical powers," Minuit said smugly._

" _Oh, she can do any of the dirty work that you can do." Penna then gave Minuit a dark, menacing glare that caused the latter to flinch in fear. "Besides, as far as I know, you and your magic knowledge obsessed mother owe me a big debt for helping her bring you to life, so you'll just have to deal with my regards concerning you associating the dumb clown. Understood?"_

 _Jessie and Minuit nodded. Everyone in Auradon was horrified at the sight: Penna De Mort was directly abusing and insulting two girls who willingly serve her, which most likely cause them to be kicked out of their other peers' social groups. For instance, Ruby had mentioned previously that Noir Du Feu had Jessie Joker, a supervillain born from Gotham's clowny terrorist and his henchgirl, kicked out of her gang consisting of supervillainous descendants due to her servitude towards Penna De Mort._

"How awful," Lonnie gasped tearfully.

"I knew Jessie Joker and Minuit Sparkle were pain in the necks," Mal said, "but I would have never thought that Penna would treat them _this_ badly."

" _Finally!" Penna grinned evilly as she held out her modeled dirt. "The bait is done!"_

" _You sure he's going to fall for that?" Minuit said._

" _Oh, he will!" Penna snickered. A better view of the dirt model was seen, and much to everyone's horror, it was a model of Gitane._

"Why does it look like Gitane?" Evie gasped as all eyes turned on Clopin's daughter.

"Don't look at me! I've never heard of such dough!"

 _Penna threw the Gitane model into the cascading waters of the fountain. It floated in an aura of blue as the water began spiraling around it. Penna's eyes suddenly glowed with blue, smoky lights as she threw her arms in the air, creating serpentine, black and teal smoke to appear, and chanting a spell._

 _ **Flesh from the Earth Mother, unknowingly given, you shall renew your beast.**_

 _Minuit threw in a blast of her stars at the model, causing it move and swell._

 _ **Essence from the demon, willingly given, you will liven your monstrous partner.**_

 _Jessie then threw an open vial of red liquid, which spilled all over the model, making it change colors and swell even more._

 _ **Blood of the enemy, you shall feed this siren!**_

 _The model swelled even more until it exploded. The lights and smoke disappeared until the state of the model was seen. The model became a floating blue clone of Gitane, made completely out of water, with glowing eyes of doom._

"She created a siren," Kory said in shock.

"Don't tell me she's planning on unleashing it in Auradon!" Ben said.

" _You know what to do," Penna told the siren, which nodded and dropped down into the fountain, much to everyone's confusion, until it got catapulted out of the fountain with a blast of sparkling water. The siren instantly went through the barrier's hole and crash-landed into the Auradon Ocean, making its way eastward, where barely any inhabitations could be seen._

"I'd better send security forces to deal with that siren!" Ben said as he got up.

"Wait, Ben!" Finius said. "A siren is dangerous! Besides, Penna De Mort sent it to someone in particular."

"Someone who might be strolling by the edge of a cliff right now," Audrey said.

"Who on earth could that be?" Avery joined in.

" _Tiny question, Penna," Jessie asked nervously. Her boss turned to give her an annoyed look. "What if the siren accidently charms to death another man other than the…nuisance you want to get of specifically?"_

" _Fair question," Penna said calmly. "But this siren is part of the branch that kills sailors using the person or thing they love most. She won't miss her target."_

" _Would have been hard to miss," Minuit commented. "After, which gray-haired nuisance other than Charles Frollo couldn't possibly resist a charming gypsy like the one from Auradon?" She batted her eyes and gave a sassy, girly pose, which made Jessie giggle._

" _Don't make me gag with these love stories," Penna De Mort said, nearly wanting to throw up as the screen went black._

"BEN! TAKE YOUR VESPA RIGHT NOW!" Gitane screamed as she ran out of her seat and pulled Ben by the arm, dragging him out of the auditorium as everyone began hurrying out of his or her seats. "PENNA SENT THE SIREN TO KILL CHARLES!"


	33. Rescue Charles

Chapter 33: Rescue Charles

Ben drove his Vespa beyond the speed limit with Gitane sitting behind him. They were followed by a few Auradon R.S.H (Rogue Spirit Handlers) vehicles with Gabriel in one of them. F.G had called in King Triton in order to receive his help (although he quickly needed to borrow his trident from the museum) and the merman was now swimming his way to the cliff where Charles Frollo was being targeted by Penna De Mort's siren.

"I figured out what kind of siren we're dealing with!" Gabriel said as he flipped through the pages of his old Spiritual Villainy textbook.

"Does it matter what kind of siren were dealing with?" Gitane retorted through her communicator. "They're all the same!"

"Actually, they aren't. There's sirens like Adagio and Sirenius Dazzle who use music to create discord that causes the touched victims to emit negative energy that the sirens feast on. Then, there's sirens that use the power of illusion to take the appearance of the victim's most beloved interest and use this advantage to seduce their victim to their doom," Gabriel said in a surprising intellectual manner.

"Gabe, are you sure you're Gaston's son?" Finius asked through his communicator. He and the others were in F.G's office, watching Carlos track the rescue squad with his laptop.

"What? I read in my free time," Gabriel said defensively.

"Remind me to introduce you to my mother," Ben said. The rescue team passed the museum and began riding on the road leading to the cliffs. If this weren't about rescuing a VK from a certain doom, anyone would have wanted to take a picnic there and have an amazing view of the sun setting on the ocean.

"King Benjamin!" one of the R.S.H said. "I got a visual on the target at four o'clock!"

"He's right!" Carlos said, zooming a 3D visual on the computer. "Charles' there, and so is the siren!"

"How close is he to the edge?" Avery asked nervously.

"I'd say close enough to take a few steps and jump off the cliff."

"I SEE HIM!" Ben exclaimed. He parked his Vespa as soon as they reached the cliff in question. The R.S.H parked the vehicles and began rushing out, weapons and all, following Ben, Gitane, and Gabriel to the scene. Gasps of shock were heard when they saw the siren charming Charles, who was standing at the very tip of the cliff.

Gitane was the most horrified: the siren was slinking around Charles, using her physical and vocal cloned appearance of Gitane (only in a more watery version) to touch and speak to the grey-haired boy. The latter looked dazed and hypnotized, his maroon eyes glowing with a fuzzy golden light, indicating that he was brainwashed by the siren. His facial expression looked absolutely enamored at the fake Gitane.

" _ **Come on, Charlesy,**_ " the siren's entrancing voice said. " _ **We can be together forever. Trust me as much as I trust you. Love me as much as I love you.**_ "

"CHARLES!" Gitane called out.

"Charles' definetly won't be able to break himself out of the siren's spell," Gabriel said nervously as he checked his book again. "When it comes sirens like this, the victim needs to be internally strong to know that he or she is being tricked by an illusion. And Charles is _definetly_ one of the weakest people I know."

"So what do we do?" Gitane said.

"Either you remind him of what the real Gitane would truly say to him or we need to wait until King Triton shows up to blast the beast into teardrops."

"I got an idea," Ben said. He made a gathering notion and everyone gathered. "We use the force field guns to keep the siren temporarily away while Gitane tries to knock Charles to his senses. Sounds like a plan?"

"Sounds good, your Majesty," one of the R.S.H said, "except we should do it now, because the boy is about to jump of the cliff!" He pointed towards the subject in question and everyone realized that Charles was being ('romantically') pulled by the siren and was about to walk off the cliff.

"Hurry!" Carlos said through the communicator. "One more step and his blood will stain the rocks at the bottom of the cliff!"

" _ **Let's go for a swim, Charlesy**_ ," the siren seductively suggested.

"Sure, Gitane," Charles said robotically.

"CHARLES, NO!" Gitane grabbed Charles and forcefully pulled him away from the siren, which hissed at the sight of her victim escaping her clutches.

" _ **MY DINNER!**_ " it wailed. The siren suddenly swelled and began to lose her lovely, fake Gitane appearance. Now, it looked like a watery and demonic Gitane with horns and wings. The beast began flying towards Charles and Gitane, holding out its clawed hands, until Ben, Gabriel, and the R.S.H fired their guns at the siren, creating a force field that trapped the creature in it.

"Charles! Charles, you need to get out of this!" Gitane said as she shook Charles, trying to make him snap out of his trance.

"We'll be together forever," he said in a daze.

"Not while you're brainwashed!" Gitane began crying. "Charles…please, come back!"

A boom was heard. Gitane turned to see that the siren had managed to overload the force field with its watery powers, breaking it and sending the boys and R.S.H flying into the trees. Gabriel groaned when he crashed down the branches of one ironwood tree and landed arm first on the ground. The siren then rushed towards Charles and Gitane, brutally pushing the gypsy aside and returning to seduce Charles.

" _ **I'm here, Charlesy**_ ," the siren said. " _ **I'm always there for you.**_ "

"Gitane…" Charles said in his brainwashed tone.

"Charles, no…" Gitane whimpered.

" _ **I'll be yours, Charles. Yours and yours alone.**_ "

Charles' eyes kept glowing with the fuzzy golden light until he suddenly blinked and it disappeared, showing his normal maroon eyes. He screamed at the sight of the siren and kicked her hard on the face, forcing her to let go.

"GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU BLASPHEMY OF…" he began screaming until Gitane pushed him out of the way of the siren's watery blast. The latter was about to strike back until suddenly, it disintegrated into raindrops. Charles and Gitane looked dumbfounded until they saw that King Triton had appeared on the scene.

"My apologies for being late," he said. "I had to deal with underwater traffic."

"Good Lord," Charles groaned before fainting.

 _Time skip_

"You children have a record for going to the infirmary!" the nurse complained.

As soon as King Triton had destroyed the siren, the rescue team returned, bringing those injured to the infirmary. Ben was alright, but Gabriel's right arm was broken and was put in a cast, making him unable to play Tourney for a month according to the nurse. As for Charles, the encounter with the siren had traumatized him to the point where he became feverish and was confined to a bed. The others were gathered at the infirmary while Merlin was making Charles drink tea made out of a seaweed that Triton had given in order to make Frollo's son immune to possible siren attacks.

"How did you snap out of the siren's spell?" Jay asked.

"Penna De Mort keeps forgetting…" Charles gagged at the taste of the seaweed tea, "…that aside from her, I get the most trauma from my father. The siren she sent inadvertently used one of the lines from my father's monologue about his lust for Esmeralda…"

"Just thinking about Frollo was enough to make you snap," Avery finished for him, "and you know Gitane enough to know that she isn't the kind of person to willingly submit herself to a man." Charles gave a weak thumbs-up, which made the other kids giggle.

"This is bad," Ben said as he sat down on a chair. "Voldemort's daughter created a monster that she easily managed to unleash out of the Isle of the Lost despite the barrier. Auradon's security could be threatened."

"We could try to strengthen the barrier and make sure that no magic comes out for good…" Merlin began suggesting.

"It won't work," Charles said as sat up on his bed. He put a hand on his aching head. "Even if you strengthen the barrier, it would be too late. The hole that Jane-I mean Auradon's Jane- created by accident during Ben's coronation was able to let outside magic enter the Isle. Strengthening the barrier would only prevent more magic from coming in, but not from coming out. Besides, don't forget the rules of ancestral magic."

"I'm afraid he's right," F.G sighed as she pinched her nose in frustration. "It appears that we can't do much concerning the barrier."

"And what about Penna De Mort?" Audrey asked apprehensively. "She nearly got Charles killed through a siren that _she_ created! Who knows what she could do next?"

"As much as I get your point Audrey, Penna will probably not take action against Auradon directly," Mal said. "She spent the same exact amount of years as my mom on the Isle of The Lost and even though she has magic that's…stronger than those who made the barrier, Penna still hasn't left the Isle."

"Heck, I bet on Havak's pellet stack that if she _did_ want to leave the Isle, she could have easily killed Charles all by herself using just her killing curse," Haya remarked.

"My boy," Merlin asked Charles as he placed a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder, "is there any particular reason why the daughter of the Dark Lord wishes you dead?"

" **I'M NOT TELLING ANYONE ANYMORE!** " Charles screamed in fright as he yanked himself away from Merlin.

"Charles, calm yourself!" Avery exclaimed as he and Gitane rushed to hold Charles down while he was moving frantically on his bed.

" **SHE PROMISED ME A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH THE LAST TIME I DEFIED HER!** " Charles continued screaming. " **EVEN AURADON COULDN'T PROTECT ME FROM HER!** "

"Whatever is going on here?" a voice asked. All eyes turned to see two adults entering the infirmary, and those adults were none other than the former King Beast and Queen Belle, Ben's parents.

"Mom? Dad?" Ben said in surprise. "What brings you here?"

"Funny story," Beast said in a dry tone. "Just as your mother and I were beginning to pack for our weekend getaway, I got a call from my friend Eric who told me that his father-in-law blasted into oblivion a siren that escaped from the Isle of the Lost and tried to kill one of your new classmates!"

"Dad, I can explain…" Ben began before his mother interrupted him.

"Whatever is the matter with that poor boy?" Belle asked as she looked at Charles, who was frantically whimpering in Gitane's arms while Avery was giving him a gentle 'There, there' pat on the head.

"We're terribly sorry for the inconvenience, your Majesty," Gabriel said quickly. "Charles is…having a major depressive disorder. I mean, you can't really blame him. He's had a bad childhood."

"What the hell do you read in your free time?" Finius asked in disbelief.

"Just because I'm Gaston's son doesn't mean I'm a dimwit!"

"Gaston's son?" Ben's parents said in unison, which made Gabriel give away an expression on his face that said: 'Curse me and my big mouth!' However, Beast and Belle didn't react so negatively.

"Well, at least you aren't as self-centered as your father," Belle said politely.

"Thank you, ma'am," Gabriel said nervously. It was clear that he was nervous now that he was actually facing the foes of Gaston.

"You should see him with his reading glasses," Charles said, lifting his head up and giving a small smirk.

"RUNT!" Gabriel said embarrassingly.

"OOOOH!" Haya said mockingly. "Egocentric Hunter has a nerdy son!"

"Gee, and to think he made fun of my boyfriend," Macy said.

"Well, what was I suppose to do?" Gabriel protested. "Act like a perverted jerk jock in order to please Dad or tell him that I actually wanted a book for my birthday instead of a crossbow and end up getting smacked on my bare flank?"

"With a frying pan, to top it all!" Charles chuckled, followed by Gitane, Avery, and Ben's parents. It was nice to see them laugh as if the siren accident hadn't occurred.

"OK! That's it!" Gabriel lunged at Charles before anyone could stop him, but to their surprise, he was tackling Charles with tickles on the stomach.

"LORD, HAVE MERCY!" Charles laughed through each tickle. "I'M BEING A VICTIM OF FORCED LAUGHTER!"

"I bet I'll make you wet your pants!" Gabriel snickered as he continued increasing the brotherly tickles.

"NO! ANYTHING BUT THAT!" Charles kept giggling.

"Should we put a stop at this?" Gitane asked.

"Nope," Belle said with a smile. "I think they're good from here. I never thought Gaston's son would be so different."

"He treats Charles as if Charles were his little brother," Jay said.

"So I'm guessing that 'runt' isn't meant to be an insult?" Finius suggested.

"Nope." Mal shrugged. "It's Gabe's affectionate nickname for Charles."

"Technically, Charles _is_ a bit small for his age," Beast joked.

Everyone joined into the laughter.


	34. Comfort and Love From The Knight

Chapter 34: Comfort and Love from the Knight

For the entire weekend, Lonnie kept having nightmares. The entire scenario that occurred with Penna De Mort trying to murder Charles with the siren had been very disturbing and prevented her from sleeping well. Plus, hearing what Ben Tron said about 'Haya not killing her yet' wasn't helping Lonnie either. For the entire weekend, she had been tossing and turning in her bed. She even screamed in the middle of the night and nearly woke up half of the neighbor dorms. Even Kory, the light-sleeper as she is, had to go to the pharmacy to purchase a box of sleeping pills. Evie and Carlos were both using earmuffs as they slept. Seeing her friends acting as such for the sake of having a good night's sleep made Lonnie feel worse.

It was now Sunday night, and while everyone was trying to sleep safe and sound, Lonnie was dreaming of being chained by the wrists and hanging above an endless abyss of darkness. Internal pain seemed to be endless as it spread throughout her body and caused cracks to open on her delicate skin and bleed. Lonnie screamed and broke into tears, feeling broken by the amount of foreign pain she was receiving.

' _It's painful, isn't it?_ ' Penna De Mort's taunting voice echoed in the abyss as something floated towards Lonnie. Much to her horror, it was Haya, dressed in gray armor and fur cape and wielding a saber made of a sharp metal that looked a lot like Shan Yu's.

"Haya…don't!" Lonnie sobbed as she struggled to set herself free.

' _I wonder what's more painful,_ ' Penna's voice said through the lips of Haya, who was beginning to lift her saber as if to aim it at Lonnie's chest. ' _You being a burden to the child of your mother's nemesis or your lack of confidence due to the fact that you are nothing but a normal farmer girl with no chances of ever being heroic?_ ' Lonnie watched fearfully as the possessed Haya began plunging her saber at the former while Penna De Mort's voice cackled from above.

"I wish my knight were here," Lonnie whispered as she shut her eyes and began to wait for the blow.

 _Sometime later_

Lonnie felt something smooth touch her cheek.

Wait. How could she feel it? The possessed Haya had killed her in the dream. Maybe, since she was in the Dreamworld, she didn't _officially_ die.

The smooth feeling touched her cheek again. Lonnie struggled to prop her eyes open, but she couldn't. _C'mon!_ She told herself angrily. _Is it too much to ask to wake up since I'm not dead?_ A distant muttering was heard, which indicated that Lonnie's unconsciousness was bothering someone.

Then came the part that she most definetly did not expect: something was pressing her lips in a gently manner that hinted affection and begging for her to come to life. Lonnie never expected to be kissed like this since she always assumed that such romance was reserved to princesses like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty and not commoners like her and her family. She _most certainly_ did not expect her first kiss to be occurring as she slept in the Dreamworld and to bring in a taste of seawater that actually tasted like fresh summer lemonade that sent warm tingles throughout her flesh and bones. Such sensations managed to shake her nerve system and make her eyes flutter as the kiss tragically broke off.

"Thank the Moon!" a familiar voice said. "I feared that you were killed in that nightmare!" Recognizing the voice made Lonnie jump upright and her eyes pop wide open despite the physical pain she was having right now. After briefly looking around her and seeing that she was inside what appeared to be one of those Tahiti hotel rooms that you saw on the Internet, Lonnie'seyes then turned to see her dream knight sitting on a wooden chair by her side.

"You…saved me again," Lonnie sighed happily.

"Well, frankly I would have murdered myself if I let anything bad happen to you." The knight stopped himself and another one of his deep dark blue blushes appeared on his dark coal skin. "Did I just say this out of my mouth?" His cute embarrassment made Lonnie giggle. She gently tried to pull herself out of the bed, noticing in the process that her arms and legs were covered with stained bandages, but as soon as her feet touched the wooden floor, she began to lose her balance. Fortunately, the knight instantly got up and caught her in his arms. He lifted her in the similar manner that he used the last time they encountered one another in the Dreamworld, making their eyes lock into one another again. Seriously, how many times have they been staring at one another whenever they see each other in the Dreamworld?

"Like I've said before," the knight chuckled as he carried her outside of the room and into a balcony that showed an amazing view of Tahiti in the middle of the blue ocean, surrounded by the familiar ethereal sky, "you are quite unique and have a way of getting my attention." He gently put her down on a white lounge chair and let her go once she was settled down. Lonnie couldn't help but marvel at how gallant this man she encountered only in her dreams could be. Even Chad Charming couldn't be _that_ charming.

"I feel like a burden," she sighed out loud above the sound of the flying seagulls.

"Whatever could make you say that?" the knight said as he carried two glasses of iced water with straws and held one to Lonnie. "Any particular refreshments you'd like?"

Lonnie pondered and thought of a peach and cherry smoothie that Mulan had once made for her in the summertime. Without even saying, Lonnie noticed that her glass was filled with the familiar reddish orange liquid in question.

"I'm smelling two familiar scents," the knight remarked as he watched Lonnie take her cup and take a small sip out of her smoothie and release a soft 'Mmh' from her lips. "Cherry and peach?"

"How did you guess?" Lonnie asked as she successfully turned her now empty cup into a tropical songbird that flew off into the blue. The knight, who had been drinking a sapphire-colored drink, threw away his empty cup in the air, not noticing that it turned into a sparkling night colored butterfly, and got closer to Lonnie.

"Forgive me for a temporary moment," he said. Then, to Lonnie's surprise, one of his blue gauntlet covered hands gently grabbed some of her hair and lifted it up to his nose, which took a deep sniff out of the hair. Lonnie was taken aback, not out of fear that the knight was doing a perverted act (which he wasn't), but because his gentle breaths send waves through her hair and body, making Lonnie quietly sigh in pleasure.

"Peach and cherry blossoms," the knight said quietly as he pulled himself away and let go of her hair. Lonnie gently touched the area of her hair that he had sniffed. "Your natural scent that will make it hard for me to forget. With such a strong scent, I could easily find you in the Dreamworld without having to deal with other jammed dreams."

"Does that mean I'll be able to see you again?" Lonnie asked too excitedly, which made her blush in embarrassment. The knight chuckled.

"Milady has missed me so much?" he asked. "It looks like I'm going to have to study courtship if we're ever to see one another again." Lonnie then felt strange when the knight had mentioned courting her, for she'd never received courtship from any other guy in Auradon. Even Mal's magic didn't change that even after it gave Lonnie a new makeover. Lonnie was uncertain on how to respond until the knight changed the subject.

"Why have you said before that you feel like a burden?" he asked. Lonnie sighed and laid upright on her lounge chair, her face looking glum.

"Back in the nightmare I was having, I was being taunted over what kind of burden I was: a burden to one of my friends because our parents are enemies, or a burden to myself," she said to herself.

"I'm not sure I'm following the second perception of burden," the knight frowned.

"The second burden is who I am." Lonnie's voice began to sound tearful. "All I'm mostly known as is a common, farming girl from a common Chinese village whose parents just happen to be rich. I'm not royalty like my friends Audrey, Ben, Evie, and Macy. Nor do I have magical powers like my friends Mal, Kory, Xaos, and Jane. I'm just…a normal girl whose mother killed one army of Huns using one cannon."

Tears were rolling down Lonnie's cheeks until she felt the knight's hands cup her cheeks and rub off the tears.

"Now pray do tell me how a normal girl like you can see me in the Dreamworld while others can't, befriend the children of the Isle of the Lost, somehow make a truce between two feuding families, and show modesty in front of a knight like myself despite the fact that I'm not doing a lot to court her?" he said.

Lonnie shrugged teasingly, which helped her stop crying. "Beats me. Why are you so incredibly charming at me while we hardly know one another?"

"Why thank you. It's nice to hear a real person, especially a girl, compliment me."

"I don't suppose you've dated a lot of girls?"

"None. Although, after so many dream-hopping, I've always yearned to go to a ball dance."

They've been flirting so much to one another that they hardly noticed they were getting closer to one another physically.

"Who knows? Maybe I'll see you on Halloween night if the Dreamworld has a ball," Lonnie suggested as their faces were now so close and she could feel his deep breath hitting her skin like a gentle breeze.

"I'll save my one and only dance to you…Fa Li Lonnie," he whispered before their lips collided and his luscious seawater and lemonade taste were the last things Lonnie felt amorously before she woke up.


	35. Father-Son Meeting

Chapter 35: Father-Son Meeting

"Here are the results of your Redemptial Goodness midterms," Fairy Godmother said on Monday morning as she began handing out the exams back. "For homework to those who feel like they did poorly, you'll be assigned to go over your mistakes in order to get points back."

Mumbles and nervous noises were heard among the six new villainous descendants as their headmistress-teacher began handing out their papers. Obviously, they were nervous about the scores they were going to get because of their inner conflicting emotions: live up to their parents' expectations, be evil, and lose their new friendships, or show goodness, redeem, and get disgraced by their parents?

"Macy, you got an A+," F.G said as she gave Macy her exam back. "You have done so well. I gave you extra points for your essay on chastity." Macy squealed in delight as she hugged her exam paper close to her heart. Obviously, this princess was _so_ glad that she deceived Lady Macbeth.

"An A goes for you, Haya." Haya got her exam back. "I just recommend that you work on your answers involving family honor and all." Shan Yu's daughter gave a nod of understanding. After all, the Hun code of family honor she was raised to respect was much different than those at Auradon, so she had difficulty answering these. Nevertheless, she was grateful for her grade. A Hun child must never go back to his or her parents with poor grades, whether they were for good or evil classes. Proof: Haya did her best and got good grades during her stay in Auradon Prep and Shan Yu never complained in his letters about his daughter doing well in a school of goodness. ' _It is essential to thrive in life,'_ he once wrote, ' _no matter what. I'm very proud that you are still taking your education seriously.'_

"Charles, you did excellent in your exam," F.G praised Charles Frollo for his A+. "By the way, how was your trip this weekend?"

"It was good," Charles said. In order to help him get more rest from the siren, Ben's parents voluntarily took him and Gabriel with them on their weekend getaway at the village where Belle lived. While Beast had taken Charles on a peaceful boat trip to go fishing, Gabriel had gone on a walk with Belle and her father in town. At first, it seemed strange for the locals to see Gaston's son and all, but they calmed down a bit when they saw the jock fawning over a copy of _Les Misérables_ , a book he used to read secretly during his childhood, in the town bookshop. You can imagine the amount of villagers and Maurice looking at Belle with facial expressions that said: ' _You can't be serious! This can't be the son of Gaston!'_

Speaking of Gabriel, he presently received a B+ on his midterm. F.G commented on how well he did in the exam. The boy was glad of his grade and kept his pride quietly to himself.

Kory got an A- in her exam and sighed in relief at the sight of her grade. Her weeks of studying had paid off.

Xaos, however, didn't do as great as his peers. "I am slightly surprised, Xaos," F.G said as she gave him his exam paper, with a big red F+ crowning the top. "I've heard that you're doing well in your other classes, but why not in Redemptial Goodness?" The demigod said nothing, but his other five peers silently got the message. The bell rung and everyone, excluding Xaos and F.G, left the room for break.

"It's because of your meeting with him, isn't it?" F.G asked as she installed the screen that she used for the first four VK's Family Day video chat last year. Today was the day when Xaos was supposed to have gone to the Tartarus to visit his father in person, but F.G thought that it would be best that, from now on, any demigod whose godly parent resides in Tartarus could only communicate with the latter by video chat. She wouldn't dare to send a child to that place as horrible as the Underworld.

"It's ready." F.G made a few more touches. "Just click on this button to start the chat."

Xaos stood in front of the screen while she moved behind it in order to listen but not be seen. Xaos took a deep breath and pressed the button. He then got a visual of a dark, metal cell room mostly covered with red mist, which made it impossible to see any other object. Rising above the smoke was a man, who could have been about 6 feet tall, with Middle Eastern skin like Xaos. He wore a blood red khepresh with a set animal where the traditional cobra should have been, a large Egyptian necklace made of bones, diamonds, and crushed hearts, _was_ shaped earrings, and a dirty white sleeveless Egyptian tunic. His bottom half couldn't be seen with all the red mist hovering around. Rusty chains could be seen hanging from the man's biceps and floating behind like peacock tail feathers. His almond shaped eyes were closed at first, but once they opened, burning red flames came out of them.

"Hello, Father," Xaos said respectfully.

"Well there's my grown-up evil eyeball!" Seth exclaimed. "Still looking like my teenage self, only with your mother's eyes!"

"Thank you…Father."

"So, have you been evil lately? Do tell me you've done at least one small mischievous thing at Auradon Prep so far!"

"Well…" Xaos gave a quick, nervous glance at the Fairy Godmother, who did look saddened but also encouraged him to tell the truth. "I intentionally flunked my Redemptial Goodness midterm exam and got an F on it."

F.G gave a disbelieving face.

"Well done!" Seth said as he clapped his hands. "Anything else?"

"Last month, I caused a toxic explosion that nearly killed everyone in Chemistry class," Xaos continued.

' _That was an accident!_ ' F.G's facial expression said.

"This is getting exciting!" Seth was clapping his hands like some toddler eager to open his presents on Christmas morning. Xaos went on to describe the mischievous things he did: how the Dark Rulers were spreading their wicked music in the school, how he let his pet scorpion wander off freely in the dorm he shared with Doug, how he helped Haya smuggle her Hun rum in Auradon by hiding the bottles in his drum set, how he used one of his father's amulets while he and Doug were having a fishing contest, etc. Xaos saw the Fairy Godmother as he spoke the truth to his father and seeing her face full of both sadness and disappointment pained him.

"I'm so proud of you!" Seth said once Xaos had finished listing all the misfits he did. "You know, I was worried that you'd have reformed like Maleficent Junior and her gang." He made a hissing tone of disgust as he said the word 'reformed'. "But look at you now! This shows that your evil education was worth it!"

"I'm…glad you think so…Father," Xaos struggled to say.

"I'm _so_ gonna have to brag about this to the rest of my prisonmates! Loki is going to be jealous!" Seeing him acting like this slightly embarrassed Xaos. "By the way, how is his daughter? You know, your girlfriend?"

"Kory?" Xaos got nervous. Kory had no problem to not hide the truth from the rest of her family: that she didn't feel like being as evil as them. But Xaos couldn't tell Seth that his girlfriend was reforming. Otherwise, he'd oppose their relationship. "Oh, you know…she's like her dad. Playing nice in order to hide her trickster nature. Heck, she temporarily gave Gorgon hair to an annoying princess last month."

"Thank hell! Annoying princesses are a waste of nature. Well, it's great to hear that she's still evil. Otherwise, I'd fear that Loki and I made a terrible decision on your…"

"Don't worry, Father!" Xaos reassured the god. "We're still a perfect match made in Hell."

"That's my nasty little boy!" Seth said. "Well…they'll soon cut off the communications. It was great to hear from you, Xaos! Don't forget to make sacrifices!"

"Sure…as long as they aren't human…"

"Don't be ridiculous! I'm not _that_ sacrilegious!" The screen then went black and Xaos' knees landed roughly on the floor. Heat was boiling through his veins as his muscles tightened. The demigod kept blinking in order to avoid shedding tears.

"You know I am disappointed with you right now, right?" the Fairy Godmother asked quietly and calmly as she walked and stood in front of Xaos.

"I wish I didn't have to do this," Xaos said bitterly. "Admitting all the bad things I did just so I could please my father in front of you and not tell him what else I really did in Auradon Prep. I'm not ungrateful of everything you and everyone else have offered me here in Auradon Prep, but my fear of my father's wrath and disapproval is greater."

F.G knelt down in front of him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I understand, Xaos," she said, "but do know that being here is a lifetime chance to step away from the path that your parents have traced for you to follow. And that I'm going to have to put you and Haya in detention for smuggling alcohol in school."

"Understood," Xaos said as he got up. "But Hun Rum isn't actual alcohol. The Huns just called it rum in order to sell bigger quantities of it back on the Isle. And Haya was worried that her Hun Rum bottles, reminders of her family, would have been confiscated if they were seen. That's why I let her hide them in my drum set."

"I see. Nevertheless, smuggling is not allowed in the school perimeters. I'll have a personal chat with Haya. You, in the meantime, should try to improve your deeds a bit. Your amulets will be confiscated for a week and you'll have to serve detention hours at lunchtime by helping organize the library until the end of the month. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. You're excused."

Xaos nodded politely and went to grab his stuff. The Fairy Godmother watched as the son of Seth left the classroom looking glum.

"Benjamin was right about giving the children on the Isle of the Lost a chance to live here," she sighed. "I can't imagine how worse they must be living it right now."


	36. Threats and Invitations

Chapter 36: Threats and Invitations:

"I seriously can't wait for the Halloween party!" Victoria said as she and Gitane were folding the clean laundry up in Avery's belltower. It had been quite a day for the French kids and gargoyles: Hubert, Victoria, and Lawrence have been polishing the school bells almost all day, making their stones quite dirty and in need of anti-moss spray. Avery, being the bellringer of Auradon Prep, had to go in circles between ringing the end or beginning of classes, receive carrier pigeons with notes of his classes and exchange them with his due homework assignments.

The toughest, however, went to Charles and Gabriel. Ever since the siren accident, Charles had been overwhelmed with forecasting his UNHOLY GAZETTE and dealing with the constant supporters who dramatically pitied him for his near-death. Gabriel had it rough for both keeping the pressuring crowds away from his best friend and dealing with Jay, Carlos, and Xaos taunting him for actually being a geek even though Evie tried to defend his nature.

Gitane still couldn't go over the fact that Penna De Mort had created a siren to look just like the Gypsy Princess in order to fatally seduce Charles. She loved Charles very much and she knew he reciprocated those feelings. But just thinking of how he nearly died because of those feelings…And the only thing that brought him back to his senses was something that reminded him of his father…

"Gitane?" Victoria's voice cut her away from her thoughts. "Are you OK?"

"UH?" Gitane then realized that she had accidently put some clean shirts back in the wooden washing basin full of water and soap (Avery did things old-fashioned in order to avoid increasing the bill his parents paid for his tuition). "I'm sorry…I guess I got distracted."

"Thinking about Siren-You nearly stealing your boyfriend?" the gargoyle guessed as she created a neat pile of pants. "I don't blame you. I nearly got rusty about the idea of that barbaric witch wanting to see his blood shed on Auradonian grounds."

"That's Penna De Mort for you," a voice said. The gypsy and the gargoyle's eyes turned towards the door, seeing it slightly opened and Gabriel's head popping out. "Victoria, Avery needs you to help Hubert set up the table…"

"Knowing that buffoon, he's going to turn dinner into a battlefield!" Victoria exclaimed and stomped out of the laundry room, making bumping sounds as she left. "I'll teach that ruffian some manners!"

"Is she always like this?" Gabriel asked Gitane as soon as Victoria was out of their hearing sight.

"Only with Hubert," Gitane said as she squeezed a wet shirt in order to get the water removed. "Their fathers, Victor and Hugo, bicker almost every single day."

"Must be a miracle that Avery can stand them." Gabriel grabbed some clean clothes and folded them. Gitane was surprised to see how neatly he folded them without leaving a single wrinkle.

"Since when do you read and fold laundry like this?" Gitane blurted out. Gaston's barely lifted his eyes in surprise.

"I used to help my mom with the chores and read with her during my free time whenever my dad wasn't around. He tried to raise me in the belief that men had to be athletic and superior over their wives. And he didn't like to keep any books in the house. Not even my schoolbooks. So my mom and I had to create a secret library where we'd keep our books, and whenever Dad left the house, we'd take out a few books and read them."

"That's interesting."

"I even had to flunk Devilish Literature class in order to avoid getting criticized by him. Mark my words, I hated doing that. Devilish Literature was one of my favorite classes back in Dragon Hall. Honestly, if my dad wasn't such a jerk, I think I would have gone to a path as an author."

"Well, why don't you? After all, you're in Auradon now. Gaston's not here anymore to tell you what to do or how to behave. If writing is one of your passions, then go for it!"

Gabriel looked a bit hesitant, which made Gitane question herself if whether or not she just gave him good advice. "I'll…consider it," he said quietly. He grabbed a pile of clothes and began making his way towards the door. "I'll bring these to Avery's room. See you at dinner."

The Gypsy Princess watched as he left. A sigh escaped her lips and her eyes wandered over the water in the basin, staring at her reflection.

"Why did their lives have to go all wrong on the Isle?" she asked. At first, the reflection said nothing until, suddenly, it began to change, and Gitane did not see her reflection at all but the image of Penna De Mort, glaring malevolently at her.

" _Well if it isn't my siren's model_ ," Penna chuckled at the horrified Gitane, who wanted to badly to believe this was just an illusion but couldn't due to the fact that the witch's voice was causing ripples on the tranquil water.

"You seriously have a lot of guts to barge in like this uninvited," Gitane growled. "Get out!"

" _Hasn't your father ever taught you to watch your tongue when you speak to powerful sorcerers?_ " Penna asked, highly amused by the spunk that Clopin's daughter was giving her. " _Believe me, mine had._ " She grimaced at the mention of Voldemort as if she was displeased about it for some reason.

"You have ten seconds to tell me what you want, you witch!" Gitane pointed at the image in the basin. The gypsy thought that she would really offend Penna De Mort, but instead the latter laughed as if she had heard a funny joke, leaving Gitane dumbfounded.

" _You seriously have strong feelings for that dark gypsy hybrid! Quite amusing…and repulsive, if you want my personal opinion. But since you're mentioning it, I could do a little exchange with you: one small errand in exchange to never lay a finger on Charles Frollo for the rest of his life._ "

"How in hell can I trust that you'll keep your word?" Gitane frowned skeptically. "You aren't exactly one trusting snake."

" _Glad you mentioned it!"_ Penna's image showed the witch lifting a dagger and pointing the blade just above the chest. Then, to Gitane's shock, Penna used the dagger to trace an X on her skin, causing teal bluish colored blood to come out and literally stain the basin's water in teal blue. " _Through the cross I made on my flesh, I vow on the River Styx that I'll keep my end of the deal. And believe me, Trouillefou, I NEVER go back on my words."_

The Gypsy Princess was horrified of what she just did: she just made a bargain with the villainess who tried to kill Charlesy about three days ago and swore on the River Styx, which made a deal seriously taken. Gitane knew that by swearing on the River Styx, she had to keep her end of the bargain. Even though it meant that Charles' life was at stake…

"What do you want from me?" To answer Gitane's question, Penna snapped her fingers and caused an object to pop out of the water. Gitane picked it up and found herself looking at a gypsy dream talisman, which gypsies used to catch unwanted dreams. It looked a lot like those her father kept in their caravan and used whenever his daughter was having nightmares, but the central embroidery looked awfully a lot like the waning crescent and dragon that were part of Charles' mark of villainy.

" _One of Tradaria's special dream talisman_ ," Penna said. " _At midnight, when everyone is asleep, put that talisman in the middle of the dorm halls. It will locate the most common area of the activities of a dream-hopper who bothers more than your grey-haired gypsy boyfriend. Once the talisman has tracked the magic, it will teleport back to me and you won't have to worry your little head anymore about Charles being killed. That is, unless you choose to break your end of the deal…_ "

Once she was done speaking, her image disappeared, leaving Gitane to look at her reflection.

"What have I done?" she asked herself.

 _Meanwhile, in Avery's dinning room_

"Well, now that you've worked on your differences," Avery told Victoria and Hubert, "the table looks great."

"Thanks," the gargoyle said in unison.

"Here comes the soup!" Charles warned. Avery and the gargoyles made way for Frollo's son to bring the silver soup tureen and place it on the table. Once that was done, Charles removed the ladle, releasing a wind of delicious soup scent.

"Mmh!" Avery said, licking his lips. "Lawrence's onion soup smells _très bon,_ as usual."

Charles put the ladle back on the tureen. "He's also got pig roast coming up and…" He stopped talking when some ringing was heard coming from Avery's Ipad.

"Dang! It's my dad calling me on Skype!" Avery said nervously as he grabbed his Ipad. No doubt about it, Quasimodo's Skype profile picture was seen on the screen.

"What's wrong? You don't like talking to your dad?" Charles said.

"Uh, Charles? Let's just I didn't tell about…"

Charles' face then looked upset. "Don't tell me. You didn't tell him that Frollo's son was your friend?"

"Yes."

"Just answer," Hubert urged on. "Maybe he's only calling you to say hello."

Avery sighed and used a finger to slide the screen. A video appeared, with the infamous Hunchback of Notre Dame in his living room, looking sternly at his son.

"Hi Papa," Avery tried to sound natural. "Isn't it kind of late for you?"

"I had to ring the midnight bells," Quasimodo replied. "Avery, why haven't you told me that Frollo's son was in Auradon?"

Hubert and Victoria glanced at one another nervously. Realizing that he was being the target of the man his father had tormented for two decades, Charles began backing towards the door.

"How did you know that?" Avery asked his son.

"Clopin made a show, bragging on how his daughter managed to reform Frollo's son and recently rescued him from a siren with the power of love."

"Technically she saved him at 90%," Hubert cut in. "The other 10% was when the siren inadvertently reminded him of Frollo."

Charles was both getting closer to the door and on the verge of having his brain boiled.

"Look, Papa, it's not what you think…" Avery began.

"Avery, do you know what Frollo did to everyone in Paris? To your aunt Esmeralda? To your grandmother?"

"I know, Papa. But Charles isn't like that. I mean, the first time I met him, he had actual scars on his back. The poor kid looked like he'd barely been fed for most of his life."

"I'm still complaining of the amount of blood that we had to clean up," Victoria said.

"Shut up," Hubert said, leading to a bickering between the two gargoyles.

"Just like their parents," Quasimodo chuckled as if he hadn't been upset before. As much as Avery defending him touched him, Charles couldn't help but feel like he should leave. He managed to silently reach the door and grab the knob.

"Charles? Where are you going?" Avery's voice caught him by surprise. Charles turned to see everyone, including Quasimodo on the Ipad screen, staring at him. Seeing the blue eyes of the hunchback looking at him suddenly made him feel very uncomfortable. As for Quasimodo, he was rather stunned to actually see Frollo's son in the same room as his son and the gargoyles.

"Uh… _Bonjour_ , Mr. Quasimodo?" Charles said sheepishly, his hand making a small wave.

"HOLY HUMP!" Quasimodo exclaimed. "How in Heaven's name did Frollo raise him? He's even frailer than Victoria! And she had an hourglass figure." A flattered Victoria put herself in a diva pose, prompting a disgusted Hubert to make a 'gag me' face.

"Well, I have been eating only bread and water back on the Isle," Charles said quietly. "You know…minister diet, from what…he said. But I have been eating a lot!"

" _Excuse moi_?" Avery asked surprised. You're barely 5 feet and 3.5 inches tall and you weigh like what? 110 pounds?"

"114, actually."

"Who cares, pal?" Hubert said, pinching Charles' cheek and pulling it. "Your skin's literally coming off your bones?"

"Dinner hasn't started yet and you already want me to be sick?" Charles asked sarcastically. "I've already been in the infirmary twice since my stay in Auradon Prep."

" _Twice?_ " Quasimodo's voice exclaimed. "I can't believe you had it worse than me! And you're Frollo's _biological_ son, to crown it all! We'll, I do hope you're feeling comfortable at Auradon Prep, Charles." This kind of sent a weird sensation to Charles' spine: this was the first time during the entire conversation that Quasimodo had called him by his first name and not by the name 'Frollo's son'.

"Thank you, Mr. Quasimodo. The people at Auradon Prep have been quite nice to me. And Avery, Gitane, Hubert, Victoria, and Lawrence have been awfully nice to me."

"I just had an idea." Quasimodo went back to his son. "Avery, why don't you invite Charles to come with the rest of you back to Paris for the Christmas?"

"SAY WHAT?" all the kids in the room said.

"Ooh! Paris!" Charles clapped his hands excitedly. "The Louvre! The Champs Élysées! La Seine! Notre- Dame! And the FESTIVAL OF FOOLS!"

"Gee, it's hard to believe that one's born evil when the kid from the same guy who hated the Festival of Fools actually likes that holiday," Hubert said sarcastically while Charles grabbed Avery by the legs and hugged on them tightly while he pleaded.

"Please, Avery! I always wanted to go to Paris!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Avery said as he tried to pull Charles away. "Hold your bells, Charles. I can tell you want to go to Paris very much, but you know it's full of people who aren't exactly big fans of your dad."

"Don't be absurd, Avery," Quasimodo said on the Ipad. "I'm sure everyone will soon know that Charles Frollo is actually is a sweet little fellow. It might not be easy at first, but it will happen. After all, that's what it was like for me."

"Papa, the main difference is that you helped save a city while Charles' dad nearly burned a half of it…"

"So? You befriended him despite our families' history and defended him when I nearly treated him as his father's son earlier. What makes one city different than a hunchback bellringer's son?"

The question hit Avery pretty hard. Quasimodo always used that question whenever his son was inadvertently calling himself better than anyone he looked down from the belltower of Notre Dame, reminding him that he didn't raise his son to take pride in their family's heroic and famous status. Even though they were famous, Quasimodo preferred to have a modest and modern apartment build in the belltower where he and Madeleine moved in after their marriage and raised their son Avery, who wasn't a hunchback nor had he an ugly face like his father but had some back issues and a somewhat poor eyesight that made him wear contact lenses. In other words, Quasimodo's point was that Avery was practically as normal as the rest of the children in Paris despite his reputation.

Avery gave a look at his friends. Hubert and Victoria were giving him 'go for it' looks while Charles gave him maroon puppy eyes, begging him to say yes.

"Well, I suppose we could talk about it with the Headmistress," Avery said.

"Good." Quasimodo said. "Well, I'd better go check on the bells. It was nice talking to you kids and it was a pleasure to meet you, Charles. Hopefully I'll see you all on the Christmas break!" And to that, the Hunchback of Notre Dame hung up.

"Yay! I might go to Paris!" Charles squealed in delight as he hugged Avery. "I got to go tell Lawrence and Gitane!" He then ran out of the dinning room in order to tell the others.

"Well, at least you made him happy," Victoria said cheerfully as she patted her stoned hand on Avery's shoulder. "He hasn't smiled a lot since the siren accident."

That fact seemed to comfort Avery as he smiled at her and Hubert. He grabbed them into a big group hug: "I sure did."


	37. One Romantic &Mysterious Knight Revealed

Chapter 37: One Romantic and Mysterious Knight Revealed

Out of all the things Lonnie could have dreamed of, sitting in front of her dorm's vanity mirror while removing makeup from her face was not one of her top picks. And removing the traditional Chinese makeup, to top it all.

Having that stuff on her face was like that time when she was ten and an accident involving her family's chicken pen ended up with Lonnie covered with chicken feathers and broken egg yolks all over her body. It had taken about an hour for her mother and grandmother to remove all that stuff from her. ' _If she keeps doing more things like this, then she'll be the matchmaker's worst nightmare after you,'_ Grandma Li had told Mulan. This was something that made Lonnie nervous: thinking about the possibility that her parents might send her to meet the matchmaker and get an arranged marriage. Sure, they married for love and Mulan didn't exactly follow traditions and lose her family's honor, but most people expected that their not-exactly heroic daughter Lonnie would at least stick to traditions and get a husband selected by the matchmaker during her sixteenth year, which was this year.

"I'd rather be with someone I actually want to marry rather than be a part of an arranged marriage," Lonnie told her reflection, which showed her face smeared with ruined makeup from her efforts to remove it.

"You might get married?" a voice asked behind. Lonnie yelped when she turned and saw her knight standing behind a few inches behind her. She quickly glanced at herself and saw that she was also in her pink pajamas. Ruined Chines makeup and pink pajamas in front of the dream guy she liked? Probably as embarrassing as the time when Charles had her PJ-exposed on the UNHOLY GAZETTE in front of the entire school.

"I hope not," she said. The knight placed his right thumb on Lonnie's cheek and slightly rubbed downwards. Once he did that, he glanced at the powdered remains on his thumb.

"What in Heavens' name are you wearing? You almost look like one of those tacky clowns in a circus who've been having a horrible makeover before show time," he asked directly.

"I look that horrid?" Lonnie asked, feeling a bit down.

"Frankly, I prefer you without makeup." He snapped his fingers and a silk cloth with moon crescent designs on it appeared in his right hand while his left hand was placed under Lonnie's chin, lifting it up so that her brown eyes could face his icy blue ones. "Hold still, Lonnie."

The way he pronounce her name…it sounded like a chant during a prayer, a name heard in a troubadour's story…The knight really had a way of making Lonnie feel…special.

Lonnie looked at the knight as he gently rubbed her face with the cloth, which felt so warm on her despite how cold his hands were. In less than five minutes, he stopped rubbing her and snapped the cloth out of existence. Lonnie turned on her chair in order to see herself in the mirror. Her mouth dropped when she saw how much better her face was without her makeup. She then saw the knight unraveling her hair, which was tied up in a bun, a hairstyle that Lonnie wasn't a particular fan of. At first, she expected the knight to snap a hairbrush out of thin air the same way he did with the brush, but instead he grabbed a brush that was lying on the table and began to brush Lonnie's hair in a careful, yet precise manner, as if he were a hairdresser dealing with a client and not a knight trying to court a girl.

"So…how did you find out my name is Lonnie?" she asked, trying to start a conversation.

"I searched through my archive of records and found you in the old memory dreams category." He answered it quite calmly.

"You have an archive?" Lonnie frowned. "I thought you said dreams were like a jigsaw puzzle…"

"They are in the Dreamworld. But once I manage to sort through them, I them sort all the information I've received in a little archive that I possess in my home in the Realworld. Every dream, nightmare, memory, emotion, or anything of the sort, I collect them, classify them, and sort them in individual manuscripts or bottles that I then place in my archive the same way you would sort books in a library."

"That's both interesting and creepy. Haven't you heard of a thing called personal space?"

"I did. But the last time I tried to avoid using my powers, I had a headache for an entire week and my mother bickering me on how I'm not doing my job as a dream-hopper probably. I don't like it, but I can't help it. I'm just born with it."

"Bummer," Lonnie said, feeling bad for the knight, who had now brushed her hair perfectly and left not one strand flying out. "Wow. You're pretty good at doing cleanups."

"Thank you, I blame my cousin for it," the knight said as he put the brush back on the table. "Being around her every time she pampers herself with diva-like makeup has exposed me to the principles of her constant pastime."

"You have a cousin? How nice."

"Excuse me?" The knight had suddenly scoffed and began leaning above Lonnie. She cringed when she noticed his starry and misty hair moving and agitating like a hissing cat when the knight began to sound irritated. "What exactly is nice about having a non-stop flirty cousin worried about her looks and wearing bar singer outfit daily? If living within the limits of my home with her, my bickering mother and my indifferent aunt for almost my entire life weren't enough, then I don't know what could possibly be nice about them!"

"Well consider it nice that you have relatives of your age!" Lonnie snapped as she lifted herself from her chair in order to face the knight. "I'm the only child in my family, with no siblings or cousins to connect with, just adults who are worthier than I am and who think I'm nothing like my parents."

"You and your desire to be more than what you are!" Lonnie's mouth dropped as the knight's words hit her. "Why must you always compare yourself to others or your mother and father? I thought that Maleficent's defeat proved to every descendant in Auradon that you don't have to follow in your parents' footsteps or whatever other people expect you to become. Is that what you want? To be just like your mom and be some war hero who killed a thousand Huns, one of them being the father of your frennemy, and to then spend the rest of her life as a celebrity who is only recognized within China as a hero? Or maybe to be the normal, not-exactly talented girl everybody sees you as and must follow the regular traditions? Or maybe take a third option?"

Defense, rejection, or anything else could have come from Lonnie's mouth if she didn't know that he was right: she was suffering of inferiority complex from being treated like a commoner, who had heroic relations, among a crowd of royalty, warriors, sorcerers, and the rest. And she had admitted that when they saw one another last night. Now…hearing him say those words back at her felt like salt in her mouth. Her head dropped on the knight's chest and tears began to pour out of her eyes.

"What have I done?" the knight asked remorsefully as he hugged Lonnie in a warm embrace. "I'm acting like my mother."

"How horrible is she?" Lonnie asked directly. She listened to his silence until he took a deep breath and answered.

"She's Nightmare Moon."

Lonnie lifted her head up in surprise. "You're…Artemis Nightmare?"

"The one and only."

So…Lonnie's dream knight was none other than Artemis Nightmare, the son of Nightmare Moon who resides in that dangerous forest in the Isle of the Lost and is somewhat feared by the locals despite never meeting him the first place.

"And the reason you didn't tell me this in the first place is because?" Lonnie asked.

"Fear of rejection?" Artemis suggested quietly. "I feared that you'd reject me due to my residence, villainous lineage, and from-another-world background despite my sentiments for you."

"Seriously? You thought I'd reject you because you might be some winged pony from the Isle?" Just hearing the humor in it made her chuckle.

"Right." Artemis smiled at the humor. "A winged pony."

"Sir Artemis, if you think I'm _that_ biased, then you have still much to learn!" She tapped his nose teasingly the same way Gitane had with Charles when they first met. Apparently, Artemis got the message.

"Alright then! Let's get started, Lady Lonnie!"

He lifted her to the point where she stood on her tiptoes and pulled her in for a romantic kiss. Lonnie gave a moan of pleasure as his seawater and lemonade flavored lips collided with her peach and cherry scented ones in a clash of endless bliss and his hands trailed down until they remained at her curves, giving her indescribable sensations.

Seriously, who would have thought that being the lover of Nightmare Moon's son would be like living a dream?

And who would have known that, while she and Artemis were busy with one another in the Dreamworld, back in the Realworld, the dream talisman of Tradaria that Penna De Mort had 'lent' to Gitane was in the dorm hall, just in front of Kory and Lonnie's dorm, and registering magical signals through its strings before it vanished back to its mistress.


	38. Reality Show, Episode 6

Chapter 38: Reality Show, Episode 6

 _Tuesday afternoon at 4pm was somewhat packed at the Legume tavern. Many villains were dispersed at different tables, eating, drinking, chatting, or playing cards. Up on a stage, some villain was playing an accordion while singing '_ Little Drop of Poison _' in a rather ominous voice. A few of the male patrons were sexually teasing the waitresses, all dressed up in French maid outfits that were more revealing if the wearer was attractive. At one end stood a bar with stacks of shelly barrels, shelves full of alcoholic drinks, and a door leading to a busy kitchen. The bar was being tended by a plump woman with dark hair tied in a bun, a grey dress with a dirty apron, and greasy hands from cleaning up the counter. The black marks under her blue eyes made it clear that she had a long night._

"Mom's in good shape," Gabriel said quietly as his eyes rested on the lady.

"That thing is your mom?" Finius asked rather bluntly. "I thought your dad was more of a, you know, attractive ladies' man?"

"He is. Depression and being married to him is what made my mom look physically ugly."

"How exactly did she decide to marry Gaston?" Ben asked.

"She couldn't pay her mortgage and nearly got evicted. Either she became a housewife or she dealt with the horrors of the alleys." Most of the villainous kids shuddered at the mention of 'the alleys'.

 _Meanwhile, at one booth table not too far from a table occupied by a bunch of pirates playing cards, Proserpine Pitit Anfèr, Sean Abyss, Forkjølelse Vinter, and Ruby Kyle were sitting and apparently waiting._

" _Whèrè ìn Hadès' nàmè ìs Ìngwèr?" Proserpine asked in a frustrated tone as her blue nailed fingers tapped the dark wooden table. "Shè's fìvè mìnutès làtè!"_

 _"Maybe she's running late from doing errands?" Fork suggested. "I heard she does food deliveries for Professor Hexe once in a while."_

 _"Still, Ingwer would never show up late," Sean said with a worried look on his face. "Besides, earlier today in Wicked Bakery class, I heard her confirm with her mom that there were no orders to deliver this afternoon."_

 _"It's nice that she and her mom deliver food for villains who can't afford to buy some," Ruby said as she sharped her fake purple nails with a nail file. "Quite a wicked way to do community service!"_

 _"You said it." The four teenagers looked to see a waitress in front of their table. If it wasn't disturbing enough that she wore a black long-sleeved shirt exposing her navel, a black mini skirt accompanied by a small white apron, and black knee-high heeled boots, the quintet looked rather shocked when they saw that the waitress was none other than Crystal Maze._

 _"Crystal?" Ruby's eyes popped. "What the heck are you doing here...dressed up like a French Maid version of Jessie Joker?" Sean tried very hard to suppress a snort until Proserpine slapped him on the elbow._

 _"I work here," Crystal said rather calmly as if they had asked her what the weather was like rather than what she was doing working in a tavern. They then saw that she wore a nametag that said 'Kristie'._

 _"Since when?" asked Fork._

 _"You remember when I told that I insulted dad's longtime crush?" Crystal continued talking to Ruby._

 _"You mean last Friday after the midterm when you said your dad said you were nothing like Sarah Williams and you said the most insulting thing ever?" Ruby scratched her pixie cut hair. "Yeah, why?"_

 _"He stripped me off my allowance until the next Goblin New Year."_

 _"Sèrìòusly?" Proserpine gasped. "Thè Gòblìn Nèw Yèàr ìsn't untìl nèxt July! Yòu're sàyìng thàt you wòn't hàvè mònèy òn yòu fòr nìnè mònths?"_

 _"Yep." Jareth's daughter let out a groan. "So I ended up getting a job here at the Legume Tavern."_

 _"Out of all the places in the Isle of the Lost where you could have gotten a job, you had to pick_ this _place?" Sean said skeptically. "I mean, food and drink service here are good, but not the respect for the ladies here." To that, he nudged his head towards a table where a buff macho was seen tapping his hand underneath an unsuspecting waitress while she was picking up a napkin that he had 'dropped'. The waitress made quite a shocked face when she felt a big hand touching her superior. Crystal did make a slightly uneasy face but shook it off._

 _"So anyway, what can I get for you?" she asked, pulling out a note pad and pencil from her pocket._

 _"Well, actually, we were..." Sean began saying._

 _"I'M SO SORRY I'M LATE!" Ingwer's voice said as she rushed to the booth and sat next to Proserpine. The teens made faces that were just as disturbed when they had seen Crystal in her waitress outfit. Her dirty brown and blue sprinkled hair, which was tied up in a ponytail, was frizzled with hair coming out from almost everywhere. The brown leather jacket she had worn the first time she was seen by the Auradon audience was nearly falling off her arms, revealing a ruffled white tank top that nearly got ripped off just above her cleavage. In other words, she looked like she had gone through a fight._

 _"Goblin's piss!" Crystal cussed. She snapped her fingers and summoned a crystal to float around Ingwer and restore the young witch's attire. "What happened to you?"_

 _"I tried to go through the alleys in order to make it on time," Ingwer huffed._

 _"THÈ ÀLLÈYS?" Proserpine exclaimed. "ÀRÈ YÒU ÒUT ÒF YÒUR SKULL?"_

 _"Okay!" Sean told Crystal while Proserpine was going nuts. "We're gonna get the usual: Proserpine will have the Vanilla Boneshaker With A Twist, for Fork it will be a Nevermore Frozen Berry Milkshake, Ingwer's gonna want the Melted Toffee Cake of Doom,... Ruby, what do you want?"_

 _"The Ginger Toothache, please," Catwoman's daughter said._

 _"A Ginger Toothache for her and a Bloody Catfish Surprise for me," Sean said._

 _"Got it. Your order should be ready in a few minutes." Crystal then headed for the bar, notepad in hand, and talked to Mrs. Legume._

 _"So, what exactly happened in the alleys?" Ruby asked Ingwer._

 _"OK, so it turned out that my mom got a last minute order from Uncle Jean-Baptiste Grenouille..." Ingwer began._

 _"You mean your slightly deformed family friend who was known for being a mass murderer in France because of how he fatally 'stripped women off their perfumes'?" Sean cut in._

 _"Yes, Sean. You met him last week when you dropped by my house to get rid of the eel thorns that your mom's pets gave you on your back while you were cleaning their tank." Sean shrunk in embarrassment on his seat while Proserpine chuckled and Ingwer continued her story. "Anyway, he needed a black forest cake for this party he was having, so my mom had me fly all the way across town to deliver the cake to my Uncle. Once that was done, I tried to head to the Main Street in order to come here, but Frollo made traffic terrible and I ran into Izzy while she was buying purple silk for her mom. It was a good thing that I ran into her, because I wanted to ask her to be my plus one for the Halloween Gala."_

 _"Did she say yes?" Ruby asked curiously. "I mean, I already invited Crystal..."_

 _"Izzy accepted," Ingwer said. Unbeknown to the girls, Sean glanced under the table and gave a small, depressed look at two silvery tickets he held in his hands._

"God, he wanted to invite Ingwer," Jay realized.

"Man, that guy has never had any luck asking her out," Carlos pointed out.

 _"Ìngwèr?" Proserpine asked in an exasperated tone. "Bàck tò thè àllèys?"_

 _"Right," the daughter of the Candy Witch shook her head off. "So after I talked to Izzy, I tried to go through the Main Street, but it was still full of traffic. As much as I know that they aren't safe, the alleys were the only quickest way here from where I was. So I went through a few, which almost felt like traveling a maze but in several minutes, until I found a way that led straight out of the alleys and to the tavern. But before I got out, I ran into a gang."_

 _"I don't like where this is going," Fork said in a dark tone. "Ingwer, in exactly_ which _part of the alleys did you go to?"_

 _"Well, judging by the way the men talked and the rows of brick shacks..."_

 _"YOU WENT INSIDE THE MALINA ALLEYS?" Sean exclaimed. "INGWER, HAVE YOU LOST IT?"_

 _"Uh, what are the Malina Alleys?" Ruby asked sheepishly as Crystal came back with their orders._

 _"The Malina Alleys are one of the worst places you can get raped," Crystal answered for Ingwer. "You'd be surprised by how many of the patrons at Legume Tavern actually live in the Malina Alleys."_

 _"So it started off with two guys blocking my way and calling me nicknames like 'sugar' and 'angel cake'," Ingwer continued as Crystal placed before her a small brown cake shaped like Dr. Doom's face. "The first said I was worth buying a cup of water and I rebuffed him. The second one then tried to do something similar, only instead by saying that I was worth spending the_ NIGHT _with, so I slapped that guy. But then two other guys came out and tried to 'claim' me as well, which resulted in a fight with the other guys until one of them said: 'Hey, since we're all betting on that whore, why don't we share it? After all, it's not like she ain't going anywhere!'"_

 _"They called you a whore?" Sean asked, getting angrier by the second. His silver eyes were starting to glow in a dangerous haze and his teeth were gritting until Fork touched his shoulder and a small frost appeared, cooling down the angered son of Ursula._

 _"So what happened then?" Ruby asked._

 _"Well, they then tried to drag me in a shack, which is how I got my clothes messed up," Ingwer ended her story. "I got out my doing my roar and they ran off screaming like little girls."_

 _"Screaming like little girls?"_

 _"Àlthòugh Ìngwèr's mòthèr ìs thè Càndy Wìtch, hèr fàther ìs thè ogrè whò trìèd tò kìll Hòp-ò'-My-Thumb," Proserpine explained._

 _"So you're half-witch and half-ogre?" Ruby looked curiously at Ingwer, who was poking her Melted Toffee Cake of Doom with her fork as if she were instead poking hay with a pitchfork. "That sounds interesting." This only resulted with Ingwer giving her a_ 'Don't even think about it! _' look, which made Ruby cringe and go back to drinking her Ginger Toothache, which looked like ginger ale with crescent shaped ginger slices instead of lemon._

 _"Well I'm glad you survived, Ingwer," Crystal said as she clasped her hands together. "And now, we're in for a special 'musical number'..." Just as she said that, the lights turned off except for one lighting up the stage. All the customers watched silently as a dark-haired, muscular man in a red shirt, black pants, and brown hunting boots stepped into the light._

"Is that Gaston?" Ben asked, shocked to see that his parents' nemesis looked a lot like Gabriel.

"No, it's the Queen of Hearts," Gabriel said sarcastically. "Of course it's my dad!"

 _"Folks, I'm so glad that many of you have come to the Legume Tavern on a night featuring me as the guest singer," Gaston said. A few dull applauses were heard. "After all, nobody sings like..." And right before he could answer, a trapdoor opened underneath him, sending a squealing Gaston into the abyss as it closed above him. Everyone laughed until they saw Safír Dragon stepping on the stage and speaking through a microphone._

 _"Nobody can_ _ **this**_ _like Gaston or_ _ **that**_ _like Gaston and_ _ **nah nah nah**_ _like Gaston," Safír said casually to the crowd. "Honestly, how many of you are sick of the same old thing?"_

 _Agreeing cheers were heard in the crowd._

 _"I can't hear you!" Safír joked as he put a blue hand around one pointy ear and held it to the crowd. The cheers increased._

 _"I still can't hear you!" The cheers got louder to the point where Safír literally had to cover his ears from the noise. "OK, THAT's too loud! Good thing I know one siren who can drop your volume down!" He instantly ran off the stage as soon as he said that._

 _"That can mean only one thing," Sean chuckled as an active drumbeat was heard and Sirenius Dazzle hopped on the stage with a golden diamond designed electronic guitar in hand._

 _"WHO'S READY TO HEAR HOW AWESOME I WANNA BE?" he asked the crowd. Everyone cheered, including several females who swooned at the idea._

 _"Here it goes," Sean said as Sirenius began playing his guitar._

 _Crowd:_ _ **Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!**_

Sirenius: _**Awesome as I wanna be**_

 _Crowd_ : _**Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!**_

Sirenius: _**Awesome as I wanna be**_

 _ **First you see me riding on a sonic boom**_

 _ **Got my guitar shreddin' up the latest tune.**_

 _ **There is nothin' you can do to beat me.**_

 _ **I'm so good that you can't defeat me.**_

 _ **Yeah!, I'm awesome,**_

 _ **Take caution.**_

 _ **Watch out for me,**_

 _ **I'm awesome as I wanna be.**_

 _ **Yeah, I'm awesome,**_

 _ **Take caution.**_

 _ **Watch out for me,**_

 _ **I'm awesome as I wanna be.**_

 _The crowd kept cheering at Sirenius._

 _"Hey, what's going on with Sirenius?" Ruby asked, pointing at the siren as he began glowing and floating in the air, with his ears growing upright and pointier, transparent fin-like wings sprouting out of his back, and some sort of long ponytail growing out from behind his short, one blonde-streak, orange mandarin hair. Plus, there was a hovering, golden symbol of a hippocampi swimming around a musical note._

 _"Oh that's just Sirenius doing a 'pony up', as those with Equestrian magic call it," Sean explained. "And his ark of villainy shows off a lot whenever he sings for bigger crowds."_

 _"It's a good look for him," Fork commented._

 _Crowd:_ _ **Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!**_

 _ **Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!**_

 _Sirenius:_ _ **Step aside now,**_

 _ **You're just gettin' in my way.**_

 _ **I got sick chops you can never hope to play.**_

 _ **When it comes to makin' music, I'm A Gruler.**_

 _ **You wish you could be twenty percent cooler.**_

 _ **Yeah!, I'm awesome,**_

 _ **Take caution.**_

 _ **Watch out for me,**_

 _ **I'm awesome as I wanna be.**_

 _ **Yeah, I'm awesome,**_

 _ **Take caution.**_

 _ **Watch out for me,**_

 _ **I'm awesome as I wanna be.**_

 _The entire tavern applauded and cheered as Sirenius faded away his 'pony up form' and bowed to the public. Voices were calling his name and he liked that._

 _"Màn, ìf ànyònè thìnks thìs wàsn't àwèsòmè, thèn sènd thèm tò Hèll!" Proserpine said as she rose her glass._

 _"Tell me about it," Sean agreed. "The last thing we need is an apocalypse to ruin this!"_

 _The friends agreed as they clanged their glasses and drank a toast._

 _Meanwhile, at Davy Jones Cove, the JOLLY ROGER, old and broken as it was, was rising on the coast with chains anchoring it to the ground. While pirates were busy doing chores and all, Chloe Hook was busy observing the sky with a telescope. At first, she squinted in the eyepiece to have a better look until she jumped back and gasped._

 _"Shiver me timbers!" she gasped. "Father? Father, come quickly!"_

 _"What is it, me lad?" Captain Hook came, looking grumpy as he carried with him several parchments. "Can't you see I'm trying to figure out where ye sister's royal wedding might take place?"_

 _"I know, Father, but you have to look at this!" Chloe pointed at the telescope. Her father grumbled as he began looking through the eyepiece. However, he soon began to sound confused, then nervous, and finally scared after manipulating with the telescope in order to have a better look._

 _"BY DAVY JONES' NAME!" he cried in horror. "IT'S COMING!"_

 _"Father?"_

 _"HURRY!" Captain Hook grabbed Chloe by the arm and the two ran towards a trail that led out of Davy Jones Cove. "WE MUST WARN SHAN YU AND THE REST OF THE COUNCIL! THE VILLAINS COMET IS APPROACHING!"_

 _"You mean the legendary comet that nearly plunged the world into endless chaos when that greedy king sought to abuse it and no one, not even heroes and villains could defeat him?" Chloe asked as they ran. "So the legend is true?"_

 _"AYE, ME LAD! AND EVER SINCE IT LEFT, WE VILLAINS HAVE SWORN TO NEITHER USE ITS POWER NOR DO ANYTHING EVIL ON THE DAY IT ARRIVES IN ORDER TO AVOID REPEATING A SIMILAR CATASTROPHE!"_

 _"If it's the same comet we're talking about, then how much time do we have until it officially arrives?"_

 _"I'VE DONE A FEW QUICK CALCULATIONS WHILE I OBSERVED IT. IF THEY'RE CORRECT, THE VILLAINS COMET MIGHT ARRIVE ON JANUARY 31ST!"_

 _"Uh. It's going to be on the next Chinese New Year..."_

 _"NO TIME FOR CHITCHAT! WE MUST TELL THE COUNCIL ABOUT IT AND PREPARE OUR FELLOW VILLAINS FOR THE UPCOMING CATASTROPHE!"_

 _And to that the screen went black, leaving the Auradon audience in shock._

"Oh my gosh!" Jane gasped. "The Villains Comet is arriving on the same date as the comet I was writing about for the yearbook. Either this is just a coincidence or my article's comet is actually the Villains Comet!"

Charles crossed his arms and sighed: "And here we go."


	39. Ancient Villainous History

Chapter 39: Ancient Villainous History

The bell didn't even ring yet to announce the beginning of Auradon History class and Lonnie was tapping her fingers on the table. She felt three different emotions right now: the first one was impatient excitement because the Halloween party was now only three days away and her Dreamworld date with Artemis Nightmare would take place as soon as she'd fall asleep and see him at the Dreamworld version of a Halloween ball. Hopefully the Dreamworld would have an exact copy of the dress Noir Du Feu designed for her for the holiday. Lonnie was delighted when she had seen the dress. Kory had complimented on how it made Mulan's daughter look like 'a very lovely and fair wood nymph'.

The second emotion was apprehension: today was Wednesday and Mr. Roger had the habit to occasionally throw a 'pop presentation' on that day: in other words, students would have to get up and discuss a subject he just assigned like...a few seconds ago. And Lonnie really disliked being the subject of presentations.

The last emotion was fear: with the rumors and visual evidence about Penna De Mort's cruelty and the arrival of a 'malevolence-spreading comet' that really terrified _villains_ , Lonnie now began to feel like Auradon would never bee safe. But what really stuck onto Lonnie's mind was why an evildoer would be horrified at the idea of a comet that is said to bring endless chaos.

She turned towards Haya, who was doodling some Huns fighting one another on a piece of paper. "Haya, can I ask you a question?"

"Go for it," Shan Yu's daughter said.

"Can villains be afraid of darkness?" Her question made Haya stop doodling, put down her pencil, and look at Haya.

"Depends. Villains can be afraid of darkness if the darkness is stronger than them or if it can destroy any living thing to the point where villains can't even spread their own evil. Why?"

"I...thought about the Villains Comet."

"I see."

Xaos and Kory sat down next to them. "You know, aside from fearing the Villains Comet, most villains have probitaphobia," Kory said.

"Probitaphobia?" Lonnie frowned curiously.

"Fear of goodness," Xaos explained. "Villains suffering from probitaphobia means that they're afraid of turning good. Like reforming is a fate worse than death."

"How many villains have that?"

"Beats me," Haya said. "Usually, villains stick to being evil because fate chose them to maintain the 'good-and-evil balance' or because they enjoy being nasty and hurting others. My dad told me once that probitaphobia was something that convinced villains to maintain the balance."

"In other words, fear the yin in order to stay within the yang and maintain the yin yang balance?"

"If...you put it that way, I guess so."

More students began to fill inside the classroom, and obviously, Eleanor Malcolm didn't hesitate to pester the three VKs and Lonnie as soon as she stepped in.

"So, has the farm girl officially become evil? Or is it going take another one of their amulets of malevolence to turn you downright bad?" the Scottish princess snickered. Kory and Xaos both looked like they wanted to punch Eleanor while Haya's face looked blank.

"Thank you so much for your kind consideration, Ellie," Lonnie said with a wide smile on her lips and a hand on her heart. Her reaction shocked the others.

"UH?" the VKs said, confused.

" _Ellie_?" gasped a baffled Eleanor.

"I hope you have a good day, Ellie. Long live evil!" Lonnie patted Eleanor's shoulder.

"Oh-kay...I'm...going to go sit on my chair," Eleanor said, giving a weird look at Lonnie before walking towards her desk and asking herself in a mumbling voice if whether or not she drank too much Scottish Blend Tea. Lonnie gave herself a proud smile until she noticed that her friends were looking at her with strange looks.

"What?" she asked.

"Uh, you sure you alright, Lonnie?" Xaos asked in a concerned voice. "You're starting to act like Haya whenever she's about to get a test back with an A+ written on it."

"Says the guy who told to his dad _in front of the Fairy Godmother_ that we smuggled Hun rum into the school," Haya said. Lonnie had heard from Mal that on the day that the Fairy Godmother returned the midterm exams to the six new villainous kids, Xaos, who had intentionally flunked Redemptial Goodness class in order to please his father, had had a videoconference with the god Seth and talked only about the misfits he made in Auradon Prep. While that made the god proud, it didn't for the beloved headmistress, and for smuggling unpermitted objects, Xaos and Haya were punished with rearranging and cleaning the books in the library.

"Alright, students!" Mr. Roger called out as soon as every student was sat in his or her seat. "Since you're all here and in a good mood, we're going to have pop presentations!" The entire class groaned in a way that almost reminded Lonnie of when they had seen the visual of the Potions Chemistry class back in Dragon Hall groaning when Yzma threw in a dangerous pop quiz until her daughter Izzy caused an accident that led to school being cancelled for the day.

"Kory? Why don't you give us a presentation on some villainous history?" Mr. Roger asked Kory.

"Great, another demigod mumbo jumbo," Eleanor said, giving a dramatic sigh. Lonnie noticed that Loki's daughter was beginning to wrinkle her nose, which indicated that she was considering blasting Eleanor with another gorgon hair spell, so she decided to step in.

"That's a good idea! Why don't you tell us about the Villains Comet?" Her suggestion sparked the interest of the other students and, as they began whispering in agreement to one another, Kory muttered: "Lonnie, what are you doing?"

"I'm saving your skin. You would have nearly casted a spell on Eleanor. I know because I saw your nose reacting to your anger!"

"The nose knows!" Haya bursted into a chuckle and slapped Lonnie on the shoulder. "Lon, you're a genius!"

"What an excellent idea!" Mr. Roger clapped his hands in order to silence the classroom. "Kory, do tell us about the Villains Comet!"

"Well, if you insist..." Kory lifted her green backpack onto the desk, unzipped it, and pulled out a full-pieced, old-fashioned movie camera, much to the surprise of everyone.

"You've been walking around with THAT on your back?" Haya gulped.

"Yes, because that's what a Pandora's backpack is for. You'd know what it's like if your dad was a god," Kory said as she set up the movie camera. "And what do **you** have to complain about? You've been dragging two oxen by the horns and lifting a ten-story tall tower crane back on the Isle!"

"You lifted a tower crane?" Mr. Roger's eyes popped as he asked Haya.

"Yes, I lifted a tower crane and threw it on Frollo's roof," Haya grumbled. "Long story." Some chuckled at the idea of Judge Frollo getting hit on the head with a tower crane that came out of nowhere.

"So...uh, what about the Villains Comet will you show us, Kory?" Mr. Roger asked.

"Just a documentary taken decades ago that every single evil adult showed their kids in order to tell them the horrors of the comet," Kory said. She clapped her hands, making the lights turn off, and pushed a button on the movie camera, causing it to display an image of a dark mountain range with dark clouds in the air.

"Ah, I know that place," Mr. Roger said to the surprise of the students. "This is part of the Methana Volcano peninsula in Greece. Back in Antiquity, it used to be a populated island, but according to our historical records, it was devastated by a global chain reaction of volcanic eruptions. By the time the catastrophe was over, hardly anyone was left. Millenniums passed and the volcanoes inhabiting that island were extinct. Most of the islands' coastal areas are occupied by tourist attractions, but the area that you see here is at the very center of the island and classified from our society's eyes."

"Why? Is it about that king who used the Villains Comet?" Lonnie asked. To answer her question, Kory pressed the play button and the documentary was played. The scene of the mountain range then shifted to the sight of what appeared to be an ancient ruined city with destroyed homes, piles of ashes, leftover rumble of an amphitheater, and worse, corpses and skeletons sticking half way out of the burned soil. A jeep pulled in and out came a bunch of people, most likely villains, pulling out research and camera equipment. As they installed, a narrator was heard from nowhere.

' _This was Otihieros, meaning 'the fortunate' in Ancient Greek, a city as glorious as Sparta and Athens that had the misfortune to be destroyed by King Otreros when his thirst for power led him to using the powers of the Villains Comet. From what our ancestors have taught us, Otreros caused five million casualties just so that he could reign forever. Our enemies, heroes, were unable to stop the mad king. And neither were our ancestors. How the end of Otreros' reign came to be is still a mystery to us._

 _'Today is the year 1970. While many of our fellow villains are contributing to the Vietnam War, we have a team of researchers curious to learn more about the Villains Comet Catastrophe, two of them being Mother Gothel and Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker.'_

Mother Gothel, the infamous witch who locked up Rapunzel in a tower, was using a small brush to brush away some dust on a bunch of corpses that she found inside a destroyed house along with destroyed furniture. She gave a slight pitiful look at the tallest corpse when she saw that it was holding onto a smaller corpse's hand and trying to lead the other corpses outside but it was too late before they could even reach the door.

' _What are they, Gothel?'_ the cameraman asked.

' _A murderer's family,'_ Gothel explained. The camera zoomed in to a part of the tallest corpse's rib cage where usually the heart is that Gothel was examining. ' _See the marks in this area where the heart usually is? A murderer has them from killing so often.'_

 _'What happened to them?'_

' _Based on the marks on the walls and the arrows pierced through the furniture, it's clear that they were trying to escape from their house being burned down by King Otreros' army when he ravaged the city the day the Villains Comet arrived._ ' A voice from outside then called them to come, and as Gothel and the cameraman left, the documentary then showed an ancient manuscript image depicting people cowering on their knees before a man, dressed in a toga, wearing a laurel crown, and sitting on a throne the same way they showed the statue of gods sitting at temples.

' _King Otreros was the most ruthless king that Otihieros ever had,_ ' the narrator said. ' _His subjects suffered greatly from his impossible taxes, bloodlust in warfare, and tendencies of executing anyone who dared to disobey him. Nevertheless, Otreros seemed to believe that he didn't have enough and needed more. He wanted to go from mortal tyrant to divine ruler of the world.'_

An image of Otreros bowing before what appeared to be an illustrated comet flying in the sky then appeared. Surprisingly, the comet flew right in front of the Sun.

 _'One day, a comet flew towards the Earth,'_ the narrator continued. ' _Astronomers before and today had calculated that, scientifically and logically speaking, the comet would have flown away from the Earth like any ordinary comet. But it didn't, for just when Otreros had attempted to defy the gods by giving them a human sacrifice, the comet stopped right in front of the Sun, causing an eclipse. While people around the world were suffering from the new cold and poor crops, Otreros had managed to gain newfound power thanks to the arrival of the comet.'_

The scene then changed to some ruined plaza in Otihieros. Mother Gothel and a few others were gathered around a mural painting that Baron Von Strucker was showing. The mural painting showed a king (most likely Otreros) pointing at two different directions. At each direction was a man walking towards it, away from Otreros.

' _What's this one, Wolfgang?_ ' Gothel asked.

' _Believe it or not, but Otreros actually had children_ ,' the Baron answered.

' _You're joking!'_

 _'No, I'm not!'_ He waved at a few inscriptions on the mural. _'Look at these inscriptions. They say:_ _ **απαγ**_ _ **ό**_ _ **ρευση των πριγκ**_ _ **ί**_ _ **πων.**_ _In Greek, it means 'banning of the princes'.'_

 _'So King Otreros had sons?'_

 _'Twins, actually.'_

The mural painting got a closer shot at Otreros and his sons.

 _'Von Strucker had discovered something that our ancestors had never told us, most likely out of ignorance: long before the comet came, Otreros had two sons, Yaveske and Yves,'_ the narrator said. _'If Otreros wasn't so determined to keep the throne for himself, one of the twins would have inherited the crown, but the greedy king chose to banish his own sons rather than succumbing his throne to one of them. Yaveske went towards the Eastern Occident while Yves traveled all the way across the Orient. Whatever happened to Otreros' descendants remains unknown.'_

Unfortunately, the bell had rung, indicating that class was over.

"Well, thank you Kory," Mr. Roger said as Kory put away the movie camera. "We did learn a few interesting things...for now. Hopefully we'll be able to finish it sometime this semester..."

The students groaned, hoping to see more of the documentary soon.

"But look on the positive side! You don't have any homework to do for next time."

This made the students cheer. As they left for their next classes, Lonnie had a quick chat with Haya.

"Have you ever really heard about King Otreros' sons aside from in the documentary?" Lonnie asked.

"My dad told me a bit about the second son, Yves," Haya admitted. "Apparently he was involved in your country's history."

"My country...you mean China?"

"Yeah. Dad said that Yves might have contributed to the founding of the Qin Dynasty around 221 BC and died sometime during the first half of the Han Dynasty."

"Wait, that can't be right. He'd be over 400 years by the time the Han Dynasty started."

"Either that or he had a few kids and they died. I really don't know, Lonnie. That's just what my dad told me, and as far as any of us know, we don't have a clue to whether or not Otreros' legacy still exist or if it has anything to do with the return of the Villains Comet."


	40. Halloween At Auradon Prep

Chapter 40: Halloween At Auradon Prep

It finally came! Halloween at Auradon Prep. The school was bumbling with excitement as they held their party outside in the gardens for almost the entire day. Many students were bubbly over their new outfits, the festivities, the small one-song concert that the Dark Rulers were presiding for a charity event (organized by Louie King to help fund a nearby hospital for children), and how at sunset they would witness the villains' annual Halloween Gala through the crystal ball.

"It starts at sunset?" Finius had asked when the VKs were asked at what time the gala would start officially.

"Yep, and it ends a midnight. So, it's approximately a four hour gala," Evie said. "Usually."

Right now, the gardens were bursting with kids, chatting to one another, complimenting their new outfits (especially those made by Noir Du Feu), eating the sweet dishes at the buffet, or dancing to the music.

"Wow, this is fun!" Charles commented as he and Mal observed from the steps. He wore a black minister's outfit with purple accents (note: the outfit was far more modest than the one Judge Frollo wore) and a gypsy necklace made of purple beads and coins. As for Mal, she wore the dress she had worn at Ben's coronation.

"I totally agree," Maleficent's daughter said as she began attacking a plate full of chocolate covered strawberries laying on a nearby buffet table. Charles gave a slight disgusted look when he saw her stuffing the sweet stuff in her mouth.

"Meh," Petite Charlotte appeared from out of nowhere. The gray-haired boy knelt down to stroke his little pet, which was wearing a cute bunny outfit for the occasion, on the head.

"How's my little goatee bunny sweetie pie-weeny?" he cooed as Petite Charlotte licked his cheeks like a puppy.

"Your 'goatee bunny sweetie pie-weeny'?" Mal snorted. "Are you serious?" Petite Charlotte, who seemed offended by Mal's remark, stuck her tongue at the purple-haired girl, who gasped in surprise.

"High five-hooves, P.C!" Charles chuckled as he held out his hand and the little goat gently hit it with her left hoof.

"You taught your goat how to high-five?" Ben just arrived, dressed in his fancy blue coronation suit, and said. "How adorable?"

"Sorry, my goat's gonna be single for now. Unless it's Mal you wanted to invite for a dance."

"Hey!" Mal frowned before Charles and Petite Charlotte sneaked away.

"Cheer up, Mal," Ben assured her. "It's Halloween."

He then invited her to dance, which delighted her as soon as they began dancing on the dance floor with a few other dancing couples. Jay and Carlos were competing over a nearby chocolate fountain, which seemed like déjà-vu for bystanders. Meanwhile, Carmine and McPrince were playing some sort of tag game with Dude and Rufus, which led to destroyed rose bushes eventually. Evie and Doug were winning a game of grabbing the apple in a bucket of water by the mouth. Audrey was showing of the amazing bright blue and pink dress with rose designs that Noir Du Feu had designed for her. Obviously, the daughter of Sleeping Beauty had now become a fan of villainous fashion. Eleanor Malcolm and Chad Charming, dressed in a royal Scottish dress and royal blue tuxedo respectively, stood under a tree and stared glumly at the crowd, still unable to believe that the good people in Auradon Prep were having a blast with the descendants of villains.

Finius, as we are speaking, went to talk to Macy: "Uh, Macy?"

"If you're here to ask me to dance, spare yourself because I don't dance with anyone but my boyfriend," she said rather bluntly.

"I respect that," Finius said as he arched an eyebrow. "But no. Actually, I was wondering if you could give me advice on how to approach Haya and ask her to dance?"

"Wait...WHAT?" Macy nearly spit out the punch she was drinking and quickly glanced at her best friend's direction. Haya was at a buffet table helping Mr. Roger (who was dressed in a Dalmatian costume) serve punch. Since the Dark Rulers were going to do a mini concert, Haya had dressed in one of her Dark Rulers outfits: a dark green sleeveless jacket over a cream colored tank top with the Dark Rulers' logo on it, grey trousers, spiked dark blue biker's boots with fur on the top, and a gothic green left handcuff bracelet. She had used temporary hair color dye to give herself longer orange streaks similar to the ones she had on her bang.

" _You,"_ Macy pointed at Finius, "want to dance...with HAYA?" She then pointed at Haya. "Bad idea, mark my words!"

"Why not?" Finius asked. "I mean, she's a great girl and all...with a seriously wicked demeanor."

"So in plain English, you like her? That's worse."

"What makes you say that?"

"Finius, Haya isn't very into the idea of entering a relationship. Just thinking about it reminds her of her mother?"

"Her mother?"

"Yeah. Back on the Isle, I heard that Shan Yu's wife was affected by a severe illness while she was pregnant with their daughter. And although there was a cure, it came with a price: only one could live. And Shan Yu didn't know what to pick: save his wife and lose his very first child? Or save the child and lose his precious wife?"

"That's horrible!" Finius gasped. "He chose to let his wife die?"

"Actually, his wife made the decision herself and chose to die so that their daughter could be born. Before she died, she asked Shan Yu to name their daughter after the flowers her grandmother had given them on their wedding...hyacinths."

"Haya was named after a flower?"

"Her full name is Haya Sin Yu, but when she got older, everyone began calling her after the first two syllables of Shan Yu's falcon's name: Hayabusa. And that wasn't for a reason. Haya is afraid that she'd enter a relationship that would end up badly just like her parents', so she chose to remain hardcore, single, and man-free. As for Shan-Yu, although he could remarry multiple times as khan, he didn't dare to find her a stepmother."

"I see," Finius said before walking away looking rather defeated.

"Here comes the party!" Avery exclaimed as he uncorked a bottle of root beer just as Gitane and a few of her gypsy peers began doing a classic flamenco dance they did back in Paris on occasions like Halloween. Many of them were doing a series of colored fire poi moves, twirling the fiery threads in order to create fiery shapes of jack-o'-lanterns, werewolves, candy, etc. Students were gasping in awe at the sight so similar to fire ferrets. In the middle of a few gypsies beating the tambourines, Gitane, dressed in a red-and-magenta version of her father's Feast Of Fools outfit, danced while waving her sparkly scarf around. She then spotted Charles halfway across her, waltzed towards him and pulled the gray-haired boy towards her.

"Dance with me," she urged.

"Bad idea!" Charles blushed as she dragged him further. "I don't dance, Gitane!"

"You sure about that?" the Gypsy Princess arched a teasing eyebrow at him while other students were heard encouraging: "Dance! Dance! Dance!"

"Oh well...if you insist," Charles said in defeat as he held out his hand. Gitane took it and was on the verge of starting a dance until he grabbed her waist and flipped her until she was bending on her back while he dominated over her. "Sorry, _bohémienne,_ but I taught myself the dark gypsy tango. You didn't seriously I was gonna fall for _that_ of trick, did you?"

"Flatterer," Gitane teased as they proceeded into their gypsy tango while the tambourine beaters were now beating a tango beat and the fire poi dancers accelerated their moves.

"What a totally awesome party!" Jane commented while she and Kory were savoring the vanilla hot fudge sundae that were served at the party.

"Tell me about it," Kory said before taking a big bite of her sundae. "I can't even tell which is better: this party or the gala we had back on the Isle."

"How often did you attend it?"

"I went there _every year_ with Xaos." Loki's daughter sighed at the memory. "We loved waltzing in the ballroom, lighted by a dark crystal chandelier, watching the fireworks...gods, I miss that."

"But you'll get to see it again tonight," Jane reassured it just as Haya arrived.

"Have you guys seen Lonnie?" she asked. "Our mini-concert is about to start soon and I don't want her to miss it."

"Odd." Kory frowned. "I saw her get ready for the party back in our dorm before I left earlier today..."

"OK, thanks!" And then Haya rushed back to the dorms.

 _Meanwhile_

While Haya tried to search for Lonnie in the dorms, Mulan's daughter was actually in a clearing on a hill not too far from the campus. Dressed in that lovely gown that was designed just for her, Lonnie was sitting on the soft grass and watching the distant ocean view, where she could see the tiny patch of land that formed the Isle of the Lost. Thoughts of Artemis Nightmare flowed inside her mind like a peaceful river's current as she stared at the distant island.

Lonnie was heartsick at the moment: just thinking about her upcoming date with the alicorn had dulled her interests of attending the Halloween party at Auradon Prep. What would have been the point, since the wonderful alicorn prince who gave her indescribable, yet beyond pleasurable and affectionate sensations through his embraces and kisses? Frankly, none.

Lonnie kept watching the scenery until she heard some barking in the distance. She got up and looked towards the direction of the school: Gabriel Legume, running after a leashed Rufus, and Haya ran towards her as if they had searched the entire planet for her.

"Finally! There you are!" Haya heaved heavily once she, Gabriel, and the dog reached Lonnie. "What are you trying to do, frolicking outside of school and giving me a heart attack?"

"Uh, what?" Lonnie looked confuse.

"Haya was looking for you before the mini-concert starts," Gabriel explained while giving his dog a treat, "and since she couldn't find you in the dorms, the last place Kory claimed to have seen you, she had me use Rufus to track you."

"Isn't that a little bit extreme?" Lonnie asked.

"Not as much as the sweat I'm getting right now! C'mon, let's go!" She grabbed Lonnie and Gabriel by the arms and pulled them back to the school in a hurry.

 _About ten to twenty minutes later_

"You ready, Auradon Prep?" Haya called out to the crowd through the speakers. Kids cheered in response while Louie King was counting the money the fundraiser had managed to make by selling those donation tickets in exchange for the concert. And they made quite a lot.

"Then here we go!" Haya called as she led the rest of the Dark Rulers into a pop song that made the crowd go wild.

Haya: _Life is just a party so come as you are._

 _Wicked up or wicked down, don't forget your guitar._

Dark Rulers: _Yeah!_

Haya and Macy: _Just be courageous._

 _This style's contagious._

 _Everyone can evil out like a superstar._

Dark Rulers: _Let's get crazy!_

 _Get up and dance!_

 _Take a swing,_

 _Do your thing!_

 _It's worth stealing a chance!_

 _Let's get crazy!_

 _Just kick off, your evil's real!_

 _Don't miss out,_

 _Time to shout!_

 _Always keep your wicked real!_

 _Let's get crazy! (Crazy)_

Xaos: _Our cruel songs, our evil style._

 _Our bad hair, our wicked smile._

 _Our evil laughs, our stone heart._

 _Our poor grace, our street-wise smarts._

Kory: _You see us on the cover of a magazine._

Dark Rulers: _Remember!_

Kory: _Things are always different than the way they seem._

Kory and Xaos: _Here's an invitation._

 _To every nation._

 _Meet us on the baddest dance floor to make a scene._

Dark Rulers: _Let's get crazy!_

 _Get up and dance!_

 _Take a swing,_

 _Do your thing!_

 _It's worth stealing a chance!_

 _Let's get crazy!_

 _Just kick off, your evil's real!_

 _Don't miss out,_

 _Time to shout!_

 _Always keep your wicked real!_

 _Let's get crazy! (Crazy)_

Xaos: _Our cruel songs, our evil style._

 _Our bad hair, our wicked smile._

 _Our evil laughs, our stone heart._

 _Our poor grace, our street-wise smarts._

Dark Rulers: _Let's get crazy!_

 _Get up and dance!_

 _Take a swing,_

 _Do your thing!_

 _It's worth stealing a chance!_

 _Let's get crazy!_

Haya: _Turn the wicked music up loud._

 _Now's the time to unwind._

 _Lose yourself in the dark crowd._

Dark Rulers: _Let's get crazy!_

Macy: _Yeah the fun's just begun._

 _Come on dance everyone!_

Kory and Xaos: _Here's an invitation, to every nation._

 _Oh, oh yeah! Oh, oh yeah!_

 _Crazy:_

Dark Rulers: _Take a swing,_

 _Do your thing!_

 _It's worth stealing a chance!_

 _Let's get crazy!_

 _Just kick off, your evil's real!_

 _Don't miss out,_

 _Time to shout!_

 _Always keep your wicked real!_

 _Let's get crazy!_


	41. Reality Show, Episode 7

Chapter 41: Reality Show, Episode 7:

 _Sunset finally came. Despite the fact tat the sun was still barely out, fireworks could be seen exploding in the sky into thousands of dark colors above the gothic, grand castle of the Báthory Castle. Horse drawn hearses were lined up one by one at the gates and villains, dressed in stunningly sparkling outfits representing their dark legacy, were eager to step inside the gate and into the dark castle, where a certain gala was awaiting them._

 _Out of one hearse came Crystal Maze, dressed in a glimmering purple gown and accessories similar to the one Sarah Williams had worn in Jareth's hallucination, and Ruby Kyle, dressed in a black sheath dress, opera gloves, and cat head earrings._

 _"This is so exciting!" Ruby said as she and Crystal walked up the stone stairs and handed their silver tickets to a vampire guard before entering inside a castle hall made of dark gold pillars, old paintings, and dark crystal chandeliers._

 _"Check out their chandeliers," Crystal said, pointing to the chandeliers. "I wish we had one of these at home!"_

"Napoleon Moriarty lived in **this**?" Mal asked in shock.

"You've never been there?" Ben asked.

"No. As Maleficent's daughter, I was never invited to such things."

 _"Oh God..." Ruby's eyes popped when she and Crystal reached the end of the hall and saw what lay ahead of them._

 _It was a grand ballroom that could have been twice the size of the one in Ben's castle, with a huge dark crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, which was held up by gothic Renaissance pillars. Several musicians playing classic instruments occupied a medium sized stage. But the most amazing part were the amounts of villains, well dressed, dancing, chatting, drinking, and eating together as if they had completely forgotten that they were living in an island prison._

 _While the scene amazed Ruby and Crystal, the Auradonian audience then caught a glimpse of a few of the other descendants. Amanda Von Stiltskin, who was dressed in a green, spinning wheel motived dress, was chatting with Penny Cobblepot, who was wearing a black-and-white petticoat dress and jacket, as they drank some sort of red colored liquid in fancy cups. Darcy Fae and a few of the other dark fairy jeerleaders were showing off to one another their leaf-like outfits at a nearby flower stand. François Tremaine and his minions, the werecat twins Belle and Levia T. Zeebub (daughters of Lucifer the Cat), where seen talking to Lady Tremaine and Drizella. Gothy Gothel, the daughter of Mother Gothel, was dancing with some Hun boy._

 _In other words, everyone was having a splendid time until some sort of trumpet fanfare was heard and the villains stopped their activities and looked up at a high balcony. On it stood a dark-haired man in a fancy Victorian outfit, a blonde, paled-skin woman in a red-and-black gothic mantua dress, Napoleon Moriarty, who was dressed in a red suit with a bat-wing shaped cape, Noir Du Feu and some forty-year-old woman who looked exactly like Noir minus the star shaped facial birthmark and the purple hair streaks. They both wore the same purple M-shaped crowns, black Grecian dresses with purple accents, and several silver jewelry._

 _"Look!" Crystal nudged Ruby, who was trying out some sort of apple pastry, and pointed at the group of people on the balcony. "There's Napoleon and his parents, Professor Moriarty and the Bloody Countess."_

 _"He's definetly got her hair," Ruby commented. "But what are Blackfire and Noir doing with them?"_

 _"You mean, Noir or any of the other supervillain kids haven't told you?" Crystal got a headshake from Catwoman's daughter. "Noir and Napoleon are betrothed."_

 _"Say what now?" Ruby gasped, nearly spitting out the apple pastry from her mouth._

"THEY'RE BETROTHED?" Mal shouted. "Since when?"

"Jealous, M?" Evie teased.

 _"They never asked for it, of course," Crystal explained. "Ever since Maleficent has been defeated and locked away in a special prison away from the Isle, her position as head of the Villainous Council and ruler of the Isle have gone straight into the hands of Blackfire, the Napoleon of Crime and the Vampire Countess. Since they couldn't agree on how to share the power between them, they came with a better so split things evenly."_

 _"Don't tell me. Marrying Napoleon and Noir, two teens who can't even stand one another, was their best solution?"_

 _"Why not? Their families are the top two most disgustingly rich billionaire family units with the most influence among all the villains here. Besides, Napoleon and Noir are both arrogant fashionistas and part of the highest popularity ranks at Dragon Hall."_

 _The view then went to the balcony, where Professor Moriarty began his speech._

 _"Villains, brothers and sisters, allies and rivals, humans and nonhumans, mortals and immortals, Muggles and sorcerers, monsters and monarchs! I salute you!" Professor Moriarty called out to the large crowd._

 _"ALL HAIL!" the villains of all ages and species said._

 _"Once more, we are gathered here today at one of our favorite dark holidays to celebrate our dark legacies, our cruel individualities, and our stone-hearted ways! Once more, we enjoy our traditional festivities of evil as this marks the 20th Halloween since Auradon threw us away in this island prison while they revel in their mainland of goodness!"_

 _Much to the Auradonian crowd's dismay, a majority of the villains in the ballroom booed at the mention of the Auradonians, those people full of heroes that they loathed and cursed so much._

"Have we been...this bad as to lock them away?" Finius asked. His armor-piercing question stung most of the people in the auditorium.

 _"But let us forget our enemies," the Bloody Countess joined her husband. "This is a time of joy and celebration. My dark friends, we welcome you to the 20th Grand Halloween Gala!"_

 _The villains cheered and clapped their hands and resumed to their activities. As the adults left the balcony, a glum looking Napoleon escorted an equally disdained Noir down a staircase and into the ballroom._

 _"Quite a speech," Ruby commented to Crystal, who nodded in return. A buff hand then tapped Ruby's left shoulder. Catwoman's daughter turned and instantly blushed nervously when she saw a tall, muscular blond boy wearing a red mask covering the top half of his face and a dark Nazi outfit with the HYDRA symbol where the Nazi cross should have been._

 _"Rebecca," he said with a thick German accent as his brown eyes stared and he smiled at her. "It's been a while."_

 _"F...F...Franz?" Ruby stammered. "Franz Schmidt? W...what are you doing on the Isle of the Lost?"_

 _"You know this guy, Ruby?" Crystal arched an eyebrow._

 _"Forgive me," Franz said. "Rebecca and I know one another from outside the Isle Of The Lost. Back in New York City, to be specific."_

 _"Ruby's from Gotham."_

 _"I am from Gotham," Ruby cut in. "But before I got arrested and sent to the Isle of The Lost, my mom and I had an argument, which caused me to run off and try to take care of myself. While I was on the run, I tried to steal a priceless diamond from a museum in New York at the same time as Franz... He was stealing some sort of artifact for HYDRA..."_

 _"You work for HYDRA?" Crystal gasped. "That infamous terrorist group?"_

 _"Actually, I'm a HYDRA leader-in-training," Franz said. "Since my father's the Red Skull."_

 _"So that explains the red mask. And how exactly did you and Ruby meet at the museum?"_

 _"Oh, Rebecca was on the verge of getting caught by the security guards, so I had to 'rescue' her from certain imprisonment."_

 _"You cost me ten million bucks by losing that diamond!" Ruby snapped._

 _"Well, it was either that or you getting sent to prison. Not like you aren't in some sort of prison, anyway..."_

 _"How the heck did you end up here?" Ruby interrupted him._

 _"Madison Hatter and I got caught while we were doing some errand for my father and HYDRA. Unfortunately, the Avengers, the Teen Titans, and the cops caught us, and our fathers so badly didn't want us to be alone in the Isle, so they turned themselves and HYDRA as well. On the positive side, as a welcome gift, Professor Moriarty and the Bloody Countess gave us tickets for the gala. And to think that we only arrived like six hours ago and I find my old associate at the gala as well."_

 _"As much as I enjoy hearing that the respective sons of the Red Skull and Gotham's Mad Hatter getting arrested, why do I feel like telling me 'hello' is not the only thing you came to do at this very moment?"_

 _"Well I did come to ask you for a dance," Franz said as he 'gallantly' grabbed Ruby's right hand and motioned to the dance floor. "Shall we?"_

 _"But..." Ruby began to protest._

 _"She accepts," Crystal answered for her to Franz before whispering to Ruby's ears with a dark tone: "Villainous gala rule, my friend: never reject a man's offer to dance unless you want a very certain painful wish to become his endless pursuit of lust! Now go!"_

 _Ruby nodded nervously as soon as Crystal told her the rule and allowed Franz to lead her to the dance floor where, among villainous couples, Forkjølelse Vinter and Jane Hook, Sean Abyss and Ingwer Hexe, Florence Poison Isley and Vergil Vanderfleet, Noir and Napoleon, Ben Tron and X.E.N.I.A Vi Rus (X.A.N.A's daughter, and Gelyk Amon and Moonlight Glimmer could be seen as dance partners. Up on the stage, Sirenius Dazzle was seen walking up and heading towards the grand piano, where he sat and began playing a contemporary ballad. Once he started playing, the villains on the dance floor began dancing._

 _Sirenius:_ _ **You're in my arms, and the entire world is calm.**_

 _ **The music's playing on for only two.**_

 _ **So close, together, and when I'm with you.**_

 _ **So close to feeling alive.**_

 _As they danced, Fork and Jane were seen looking at one another rather amorously._

 _Sirenius:_ _ **All life goes by, romantic dreams will stop.**_

 _ **So I bid mine goodbye and never knew.**_

 _ **So close was waiting, waiting here with you.**_

 _ **And now, forever I know, all that I wanted to hold you so close.**_

 _Sirenius entered his 'pony-up' form in a not so showy way compared to the last time as the music intensified. Sean Abyss was seen twirling around a giggling Ingwer, which made the Candy Witch and some purple skinned, white haired plump woman (most likely Ursula) sigh from the distance at the sight of their daughter and son dancing together. For a brief moment, Noir and Napoleon looked differently at one another._

 _Sirenius:_ _ **We're so close to reaching that famous happy end.**_

 _ **Almost believing this was not pretend.**_

 _ **Now you're beside me, and look how far we've come.**_

 _ **So far, we are so close.**_

 _More villains danced as the chandelier shined brighter and sparkling confetti began filling the air. Both Vergil and Gelyk were lifting their dance partners in the air, causing the girls to laugh in delight. Ruby was seen blushing as Franz's hand touched her closely at the waist as they waltzed. Then, Fork and Jane ended their dance and the two walked out of the dance floor and made their way to a doorway that led to an outdoor balcony._

 _Sirenius:_ _ **Oh, how could I face the faceless days.**_

 _ **If I should lose you now?**_

 _ **We're so close to reaching that famous happy end.**_

 _ **Almost believing this was not pretend.**_

 _ **Let's go on dreaming, for we know we are...**_

"Look at Fork and Jane Hook," Gitane said as the screen showed the couple kissing on the balcony. The Auradonian crowd either smiled or sighed at the sight.

 _Ingwer and Sean smiled when they saw their ice prince friend sharing his love for the pirate girl. At the buffet, Captain Hook and Chloe Hook were seen fist-bumping one another._

 _Sirenius:_ _ **So close...**_

 _ **So close...And still...**_

 _ **So far...**_

 _His 'pony-up' form disappeared as his song ended. The crowd applauded for his performance and the son of Adagio Dazzle bowed in front of them. Meanwhile, up on a high platform crowed with guests, Penna De Mort was seen observing the villains below her. Her face had an expression that no one had ever noticed before._

 _"Penna, are you OK?" Minuit asked with sincere concern when she saw her boss in such a mood._

 _And the strangest part? Penna shed one single black colored tear shaped water drop that trailed down her cheek and turned into stone once it left her body before it broke into pieces as soon as it hit the floor._


	42. Overly Extreme Dream Romance

Chapter 42: Overly Extreme Dream Romance:

When Lonnie arrived in the Dreamworld once she fell asleep, she found herself in a dream version of the Halloween Gala the villains just had.

But something was different about it: there weren't just villains dancing and having fun just like at the real gala. No, she even saw heroes at the party. And the strangest part? They were having _fun_ together...as if their rivalries never existed and they've been friends for ages.

"As much as I enjoy the scenery, I'm willing to bet that only Ben could dream of such a thing," she said out loud. For a moment, she smiled at the sight of such harmony...

That's when she smelled a very familiar seawater and lemonade flavor right in behind her.

"Sneak attacking isn't going to work on me anymore, Artie," she said teasingly as she turned to see a rather surprised Artemis Nightmare. His familiar dark blue blush appeared once again in his cheeks.

"You...did _not_...just call me Artie," he said, with a cross face appearing on him.

"I didn't know you hated that," Lonnie said nervously.

"That was the embarrassing pet name Nightmare Moon gave me ever since I was a filly. As if being joked about being given a girl's name wasn't enough..."

"Tell me about it." Lonnie shrugged, understanding what he was going through. "I've occasionally heard people mentioning to me that 'Lonnie' is also a boy's name."

"Yeah, I must admit that I'm still not sure why people call you by your Auradonian name rather than by your Chinese name."

"Have you been researching on the story of my life?" Lonnie asked in disbelief, hardly because of what he said but because someone other than his family mentioning her actual name.

"Yes," Artemis said as he walked closer to Lonnie. " And your names both have the same meaning: 'lion'. So while you're Fa Li Lonnie in Auradon Prep, you're Fa Li Shizi back in China."

Lonnie nodded at his response. It was true, she was legally born as Fa Li Shizi back in her home country, but when she needed to get an Auradonian passport (a right given to everyone in the world now as a 'symbol of peace'), her parents had to find a more 'modern' name to put on her passport as long as it was similar to her birth one. So they picked Lonnie, which was a name they used more often to call her than Shizi. Only her great-grandmother didn't dare to call her by 'Lonnie'.

"I'd still prefer that you address me as 'Lonnie'," Lonnie told Artemis. The alicorn prince had placed his left hand on her right cheek and used it to caress her soft skin as if she were a delicate flower. A gesture that she found quite touching.

"I will if you never call me 'Artie'," he answered back, and Lonnie couldn't help but chuckle at his remark. Her lover then bent his head down to give her a kiss, leading Lonnie to revel once more in that wonderful taste of seawater and lemonade.

"Oh...and I...do like your dress," Artemis said nervously as he broke off the kiss. Lonnie looked down and realized that she forgot to notice that she was wearing her Halloween gown. "I especially like that midnight blue color you added to the cherry blossoms." He took her hand and led her to the dance floor just as the Dreamworld version of Sirenius Dazzle began playing the same song that the real Sirenius Dazzle had sung at the gala.

"Thanks, I..." Lonnie blushed as she struggled to finish her sentence. Artemis had placed his spare hand on her waist and led her into a waltz. "I was thinking about you when Mal asked if I wanted any modifications in the design sketch she came up with for the occasion."

Artemis gave a surprised frown as they kept waltzing. "You...were thinking about me?"

"Since I first met you."

Artemis paused dancing in a moment. Lonnie ended up quite near his chest and hearing a rapid heartbeat.

"I'm not giving you a heart attack, am I?" she asked nervously.

"I'm an alicorn, so my heart beats approximately 43.5 times per minute," he said as his icy blue eyes looked at her. The two failed to notice that the ballroom was fading away until they were the only two standing in the middle of darkness.  
"And I thought I was the one being lovesick in the real life."

"Really?"

Artemis held her hands close to his heart. "The mere thought of you distracts me wherever and wherever I am. My thirst and hunger can't reach my ears. I've never been like this ever since I first gained my consciousness. Lonnie, I...love you to the point where my immortality means nothing to me anymore."

Lonnie placed a hand on his cold cheeks. "And I could never recall a time when I've been _this_ happy," she said, shedding a tear of happiness.

They embraced one another and shared another deep kiss for such a long time that they didn't even notice a door suddenly opening out of nowhere, causing the couple to tumble inside a room. Thankfully, Artemis was able to catch Lonnie before she hit the floor.

"Are you alright, Lonnie?" he asked.

"I'm fine." She glanced around. "Where are we?"

They glanced around and realized that the room they were in was very familiar: it was that Tahiti hotel room where Artemis had brought Lonnie after she endured that horrible nightmare involving a possessed Haya trying to kill her. The only difference was that the bed looked far larger than before; just seeing its new size didn't force either Artemis or Lonnie to think far too long.

"Out of curiosity, if we do this in Dreamworld, what's the probability that it will have an impact on our 'Realworld' selves?" Lonnie asked as Artemis put her back on her feet.

"Well, since the injuries of your nightmare didn't appear on your real physical body...I don't think I see any harm of doing it."

They gave one another a coy smile before kissing one another again and Artemis' hands made their way towards the top of Lonnie's dress, pulling it down and revealing more of her skin.

 _Such a long time later_

How long had it been? They had no idea. It felt like eternity.

A small dawn coming from the ethereal sky could be seen from the window of the hotel room. At a corner was a small table with folded clothes on top of it. The large bed didn't look so clean now due to the shuffled bed sheets and two people sleeping together right in it.

Artemis was the first to open his eyes. It had been quite a night for him, especially considering the fact that he had actually slept, something he had never done since he got out of Nightmare Moon's womb. A pleasant activity, now that he thought about it.

His eyes looked down to see an asleep Lonnie cuddling her head on his dark, bare chest. Even while sleeping, she was beautiful. Her peach and cherry blossom scent had been much stronger since last night.

Dreaming of her. Thinking about her. Dancing with her. Kissing and cherishing her. Anything involving the daughter of Mulan felt like a gift from the stars to him. If someone had told him long ago that he would fall for that girl, he would have most likely called them a bunch of dreamers...ironically. Still, Artemis couldn't help himself from the thought of how much better the relationship would have been if it existed also in the Realworld and not just in the Dreamworld. But what if it could only exist in their dreams? He certainly hoped that wouldn't be the case.

He heard a soft moan and looked down to see Lonnie waking up, her eyes fluttering until they were wide open and lovingly looked at Artemis.

"Morning," she said quietly. "I guess?"

Artemis chuckled. "Yeah, it's somewhat around 6 am in the Realworld and dawn here. Morning does qualify."

Lonnie grinned at his words and leaned forward to kiss him, which he affectionately returned. His hands trailed down to her bare waist (what was it with him mostly touching her in that area?) and pulled her much closer to him, feeling one and another's body heat even more.

"How long until I wake up?" Lonnie asked in between kisses.

"I'd say until the sun officially rises in the Dreamworld," Artemis said as he savored those exotic flower tasting-lips of hers once more.

"Artemis, is something wrong?" Lonnie asked when they were done. "You look like something's troubling you."

The alicorn prince sat up straight on the bed while Lonnie pulled one of the bed sheets to cover herself.

"Let's just say that I might have concerns if whether or not we'd...still be an item should we ever be...near one another in the Realworld," Artemis confessed. He nervously looked at his love, who only responded with an understanding look.

"I also wish we'd be together out there...for real," Lonnie said quietly. "Artemis...have you...ever considered leaving the Isle Of The Lost to go to Auradon?"

His night-like hair flickered strangely; that occurred to him whether he hit a hard spot of a conversation.

"I...I have, Lonnie, but..." He sighed in defeat. "Aside from dream-hopping, I also have to deal with certain issues..."

"Such as?" Lonnie placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Lonnie, I'm...conflicting against my mother. She's furious that I didn't turn out to be as dark as she is, and she's insisting that she helps me 'reform back to evil darkness'. So I...self-exiled from my castle and leading a group of protestants."

"You're doing a rebellion against your own mother?" Lonnie asked with her eyes wide open.

"I couldn't stand it. I just can't bear myself to be around someone who desires me to be evil. Spending so much time dream-hopping and visiting other's dreams and memories has made me yearn for a better life." His head dropped down. "I ran off after I saw how she mistreated our subjects in our 'kingdom', but I'm still stuck in it, having to guard its barriers from the outsiders."

"You mean..." A tear began to appear on Lonnie's cheek. "That you can't come out? I...might not ever see you?"

"Not until I've finished my business there." Artemis held her hands. "But I swear on the River Styx that when it is, nothing should prevent me from seeing you."

"I'll be waiting for you," Lonnie said with a smile. "And I know the wait will be worth it." She watched as Artemis briefly let go of her hands and used his to make a circular motion. Blue magic briefly appeared until it dissolved, revealing a midnight blue cherry blossom broche laying in the palm of his hands. Lonnie gasped at the sight of it.

"Remember me until we see one another again," Artemis said as he placed the broche in Lonnie's hands and gave her one last kiss before the Dreamworld dissolved and Lonnie woke up in her bed at her dorm back in Auradon Prep...with her fist clutching a midnight blue cherry blossom broche.


	43. The Beginning Of The Worries

Chapter 43: The Beginning Of The Worries:

Monday, November 3rd. Lunchtime in Auradon Prep seemed pretty normal.

"I can't believe you flunked...again," Ben said when Xaos threw down on the lunch table his Redemptial Goodness midterm exam with a big F+ drawn on the top in a bright red.

"Well, what choice do I have?" Xaos said. "I don't want to find out what my dad's wrath would be like if I presented him an A+ in that class. It would be like..."

"Serving human flesh to a god?" Charles asked right when he and Gitane came to the table.

"Aren't you supposed to be broadcasting your UNHOLY GAZETTE?" Mal asked after taking a break from drinking her strawberry juice.

"Finius is replacing me for the day," Charles said. Right when he said that, the voice of Finius was heard through the speakers and giving the latest feedback on the UNHOLY GAZETTE, talking about students receiving their midterms back and the upcoming talent show at the end of the month. "Besides, I wanted to take a break and spend time with my friends."

"That's rich," Jay snorted. "Coming from you..."

"Says the guy who kept tripping me so that I'd land into mud puddles since elementary school." Charles tapped his fingers on the table. "What did you call me back then? Oh, right. 'Filthy gypsy hybrid.' That's what you called me."

"You called him _what_?" Gitane gave Jay a look of disgusted belief.

"It was back on the Isle Of The Lost! We were supposed to be evil!" Jay protested.

"Right, because you respected Mal, a human-fairy hybrid, a bunch of demigods, dhampyrs, half-witches, and I can keep going to infinity," Gabriel said as he poked on a piece of steak, "but you can bully a kid for being part gypsy and part Christian?"

"Well technically Judge Frollo hates gypsies," Carlos tried defending Jay. "So socially speaking, what sense does it make for him to have a child with something he hates?"

"I pity you and your shallow minds." Charles got up and took his tray with him brutally. "At least no one treated me like dirt when I stayed cooped up in my studio back on the Isle."

"Woah, hold it!" Gabriel got and tried to keep his friend from leaving just as the mail arrived.

"Sorry, but where are Haya Yu and Charles Frollo?" the mailman asked. "I've got two serious messages from the Isle Of The Lost.

 _Later on in Fairy Godmother's office_

All the villainous kids, Ben, Audrey, Jane, Gitane, Lonnie, and F.G were gathered in the office of the Headmistress. Haya skimmed through the first message, which came from her father Shan-Yu.

"There was an attack in the Isle Of The Lost," she said as her head lifted up from the scroll.

"How many victims?" Lonnie asked.

"Just one."

"I'm sorry...but... _how_ exactly is this an attack?" Audrey frowned.

"The victim was lying on the floor with blood all over him, most notably on one of his arms. He looked traumatized even after he was taken to Medea's Hospital. And when they checked his mark of villainy...it was gray."

"Uh, who exactly was the victim, Haya?" Ben asked.

"David Lapieuvre."

The villainous kids all let out a big series of: "WHATs?" Lonnie covered a gasp coming from her mouth.

"You mean the son of Dave the Octopus?" Fairy Godmother asked. "How did this happen?

"I don't know." Haya looked through the letter again. "All my dad says is that someone called the Huns to notify them of an 'aggressed' body that they found in the Animal Abuse classroom..."

"It took place on SCHOOL GROUNDS?" Macy exclaimed. "But killing is forbidden at Dragon Hall!"

"Your school restricts murder?" Jane asked.

"We have some decency, you know?" Macbeth's daughter muttered. "Putting forbidden graffiti on the walls, you can. Cheat on tests, you can. Bully others until it gets way too close to murder, you can. But murder itself is forbidden. Villains on the Isle of The Lost want to keep their legacies alive despite being locked up, and allowing their kids to murder one another in school is not a great idea!"

"So who attacked David and when?" Ben asked.

"I might have an answer for that." Everyone looked at Charles, who was holding the message he received: a rather fancy, but grim, greeting card. "Gabe, you know our old pal, François Tremaine?"

"He was the only other person you hung out with besides me and we were Boy Scoundrels," Gabriel said.

"Well he wrote me this rather detailed event in the letter he sent me."

"Would you read it for us, Charles?" Fairy Godmother asked politely.

"It's all in French but I'm a fluent translator." The gray-haired boy cleared his throat and began reading.

" _My dear friend Charles. How are things doing in Auradon Prep? As much as I loathe the idea of you going to the same school as my step-nephew, I must say that I hope you're doing better here than on the Isle. Something bad has occurred in Dragon Hall._

 _"It began in the morning. You know how I am: I arrived an hour in advance as usual with my henchgirls Belle and Levia before classes started. If you were there at that time, you'd see the usual happening: Hun kids sparring with one another for fun, Hannah South and Imora Sombra gossiping about fashion-by the way, I'm running the UNHOLY GAZETTE at school, as you asked me before you left..."_

"Hold it!" Mal interrupted and pointed at Charles. "You let François continue the UNHOLY GAZETTE in Dragon Hall while you brought it in Auradon Prep?"

"Yes, Mal. François was part of my gossip crew, it's called doing business, now let me finish." Charles rolled his eyes before continuing to read.

" _...The new girl, Ruby Kyle, doing a graffiti drawing of a wild cat on the janitor's closet door, Ingwer Hexe selling treats to the others in a mini-stand, Camillo Leon and Mystère Darkholme sharing shapeshifting tricks to one another. You'd think this was another normal day at Dragon Hall._

 _"It was then 7:30am. My henchgirl and I made way for the Advanced Manipulation Therapy class, my personal favorite class. Just as my hand touched the door handle, an unimaginable scream was heard ringing through the halls of Dragon Hall. Almost everyone had to cover their ears, except for Sirenius Dazzle, who had headphones playing loud music over his earlobes._

 _"Headmaster Facilier then came barging down the stairs, shouting: 'What is the meaning of this wild voodoo chaos?' Then came Fabianna Fabulous (Fabu's daughter) and Amanda Von Stiltskin running up from downstairs, screaming for help. 'What is going on?' Facilier asked. 'Professor Dimple found David Lapieuvre injured and unconscious on the Animal Abuse classroom floor!' shouted a freaked out Amanda._

 _"Bystanders were getting nervous. Even Belle and Levia clung to me in fright. When one of the teachers asked what happened, Fabianna said that when Professor Dimple opened the door to her classroom so that she and her students could get in, only to find David in his state. There were questions to what was going on. At first, Headmaster Facilier asked what on earth David would have possibly been doing in the classroom before class time until Amanda answered, saying that David had volunteered to check on the cage locks during the weekend to make sure that the animals Professor Dimple used for her class._

 _"A Hun kid then called her mom, who worked for the Hun emergency task force, while the adults brought David up on the main floor using the elevator since they put him on a stretcher. Goodness, he was terrible! He looked like he had been attacked, with diverse cuts all over his purple skin. His hair was as messy as my sister Drizella's whenever she wakes up from bed. And his lab coat? God, that lab coat was in_ _ **ruins**_ _: all ripped and shredded as if some wild animal tried to play with it (And to think David is overprotective of his lab material). Blood stained him practically everywhere._

 _"Dave The Octopus arrived at Dragon after he received a call of what happened to his son. He freaked out at the sight of it: 'No, not my David! Please, my son can't be dead! He's the only family I have ever since I gave birth to that squidling!' The Hun emergency nurse assured him that David was alive, but his 'unknown' injuries are bad enough to put him in a three-day coma._

 _"David was then taken to Medea's Hospital. Three kids were excused so that they could accompany David and Dave to the hospital: Manny Colchis, since his mom's head of the hospital and usually needs her son's assistance whenever there's a medical urgency, Sean Abyss, since he and David are actually distant cousins, and Dolflynn Blowhole, David's best friend. You should have seen the look on Dolflynn's face: seeing his friend in such a state and he was unable to help really made him look remorseful._

 _"Once the Huns, the victim, and the others left, Headmaster Facilier had us go back to our classes and warned Professor Dimple to avoid leaving her students alone in her classroom during the weekend unless she'd want another attack to occur. As I'm writing this, they're temporarily canceling all Animal Abuse classes in order to leave room for future investigation. But don't start getting any ideas, Charles. What just happened to David Lapieuvre is frightening many students. They fear they might become the next ones to go on a stretcher._

 _"Before I end this letter, I must also say a particular thing I noticed about David when he was brought up on a stretcher: his right sleeve was completely torn off, exposing his bloody bare arm, which was the current bloodiest part of all his body. But it wasn't the blood that got my attention. No, it was his mark of villainy. You know how David's mark of villainy is a bright periwinkle and chartreuse colored mark of an octopus strangling a penguin? Well, when I caught a glimpse of David's bloody arm, I noticed that his mark was...gray. Not as gray as my mother's hair, but gray like a tombstone. Odd, isn't it?_

 _"I wish you the best of luck in Auradon. Hopefully, you'll have better safety there compared to here. Sincerely, François."_

Everyone was deadly quiet after Charles finished reading the letter. The VKs were more horrified than their Auradonian friends by what François Tremaine said.

"The Isle Of The Lost...no longer being safe?" Kory stammered. "But we've lived there our entire lives! Why is this happening?"

"Poor David," Carlos said sadly. "He didn't deserve this. He was a cool guy."

Meanwhile, Ben was pacing the office. "I feared that you and the rest of your peers didn't deserve to be mistreated for your parents actions," he said, "but now I'm fearing that your old home itself was putting your lives at risk. I...I can't let this happen!"

"Ben, as much as you're the King of Auradon, you can't just have every single VK on the Isle migrate here!" Audrey said.

"Audrey's right." Mal gave a nod to Audrey's words. "We might have changed, but some on the Isle haven't. Plus, they've spent their whole lives there that they practically called it home. Making them leave all suddenly would be like pulling a weed by the roots."

"Surely there's at least something we can do?" Lonnie asked. "I mean, it's not like we're going to sit here and do nothing, right?"

"For one, I'd recommend we don't tell this to anyone in Auradon Prep," Fairy Godmother suggested. "Panic might ensue..."

"We understand, Headmistress," Ben said. "But mark my words: if I learn that more of these children have been attacked by the end of next month, I'll personally make sure that they are instantly transferred at the beginning of the next semester in Auradon Prep!"


	44. Reality Show, Episode 8

Chapter 44: Reality Show, Episode 8:

(Thursday, ten minutes before ten)

 _"Hey, François!" Sean called out. François looked away from his locker._

 _The son of Lady Tremaine, unlike his mother and older half-sisters, was quite good-looking and youthful: his dark, slightly violet streaked hair was gelled back in a gentlemanly manner and his silver eyes shone with cunningness. He wore a 1800s styled orange cravat held back with a blue gem, along with a red Victorian riding coat, maroon breeches held back by an orange belt, and black-and-white Victorian shoes. Strapped at his belt like a sword was a cane made of dark wood and a handle shaped like a chartreuse bluish sphere._

 _Laid just on the tops of the row of lockers were Belle and Levia in a position that was just perfect for their heritage and werecat status. Unlike the Hook twins, Jane and Chloe, Belle and Levia looked so identical to one another: they had the same violet colored skin and blue, feline eyes. The same pink lips, gray combat suits consisting of sleeveless turtleneck shirts, miniskirts, open-toed flatboots, and the same identical cat tails, which were half their sizes. Both sisters had waist-long teal hair that was held back by a gray headband. There were only two ways to differentiate Belle from Levia. The first one was that Belle had her headband placed on her forehead with some hair leaning over the headband while Levia's was over her hair, leaving some bang to cover her forehead. The second one was that, while Belle had a red furry armband and grey handcuff bracelet on her right arm, Levia had an opera glove with red furry edges on her left arm._

 _Those two cats looked like dangerous feline ninjas._

 _"Yes, Sean?" François asked in a very thick French accent that made his s and r consonants roll like coals in a fire._

"Wow, his accent sounds a lot better than yours," Gitane pointed out to Gabriel and Charles.

"François speaks French with his folks all the time and to us only when there's no one else," Gabriel Charles said.

 _"I heard that you sent a letter to Charles Frollo about my cousin's accident," Sean said drily. Belle and Levia began to make cat hissing noises. Obviously, they didn't like the way Sean was behaving towards their boss._

 _"You might want to watch out for the Zeebub Twins." François smugly pointed at Belle and Levia as they scratched their nails on the lockers. "They're always in the mood for sushi whenever their boss or their boss's friends is being offended."_

 _"So not cool," Belle agreed._

 _"Completely unacceptable." Levia shook her head._

"I keep forgetting how creepy they sound with their exact identical voices." Carlos shuddered.

"Did they ever consider joining a choir?" Aaricia asked jokingly.

"That made things even scarier."

 _"Actually," Sean said as he held out a stopping hand, "I came to thank you."_

 _"Say what?" François and the Zeebub Twins said in unison. Turns out that Carlos was right: the twins sounded scary when talking in unison._

 _"Apparently your friend showed the letter to Auradon's idealistic king and had a delivery of medication sent to Dave the Octopus, which arrived just yesterday."_

Most of the Auradonian audience was surprised and whispering about Ben's gesture. Ben was slightly blushing at the mention of him sending medication to the Isle Of The Lost.

 _"How thoughtful," François said. "Did they help David recover?"_

 _"Well Medea was certainly able to use them so that David didn't suffer from a severe blood loss. She only used a spell to make David fall asleep while she tried to heal his wounds with the Auradonian medicine. He got better by yesterday morning," Sean sighed, concerned about the fate of his cousin._

 _"Has David returned to Dragon Hall yet?" Levia asked. "My sister and I share the same Devilish Literature class as him on Thursday at 8am and he wasn't there..."_

 _"A tragedy," Belle sighed dramatically as she rolled on her back. "Devilish Literature is the only class where we aren't with our beloved master..." She let out a purr as she gave a wink to François, who remained stoic._

 _"Will you ever quit being an airhead?" Levia slapped her sister on the back of the head. "You're going off topic! We were talking about..."_

 _"Hum!" Belle held her nose in the air. "You're just jealous, Levi, because Master François likes me best!"_

 _"_ _ **Excuse me**_ _? I saw him first when you and I were barely kittens!_ _ **He**_ _likes_ _ **me**_ _!"_

 _The Zeebub Twins began to jump off the lockers and proceed into an awkward catfight that involved scratching, hissing, pulling tails, and bickering over who François preferred, while the boys looked speechlessly at the scene just as Victor Witherdale came in. He literally stopped drinking from his cup of hot bloody tea in order to watch the scene._

 _"Are they always like this?" he asked, pointing a pale white finger at the twins while his fanged mouth made an expression that said 'Are these girls for real?'_

 _"Tragically, they were the only ones in the litter that mother would let me keep," François Tremaine said in an exasperated tone before he grabbed his cane and began walking towards the twins._

 _"We'd better not stay here," Sean suggested as he ushered Victor away from the trio._

 _"Dang it! I'll miss the blood!" Victor whined said._

 _"You're already drinking blood right now."_

 _"I happen to be a very thirsty vampire, Mr. Poor Unfortunate Sucker. By the way, have you seen Carlos?"_

 _"Which one?" Sean frowned. "You have to be specific; there were three Carlos in Dragon Hall." Sean showed up three fingers._

"There were **3** Carlos?" Jane asked her boyfriend.

"Yeah, it was easy to for people to fail to make the difference," an annoyed Carlos muttered.

 _"Well, I can't be referring to Carlos De Vil since he's in Auradon." Victor rolled his head._

 _"Then that leaves Carlos and Karlos," Sean concluded._

 _"Carlos and Carlos?"_

 _"No! There's Carlos and then there's Karlos, pronounced Kaar-LOHS." Victor still looked confused. This drove Sean nuts, leading him to pull on his hair in frustration. "KARLOS PYTHON, YOU DIMWIT! THE WIMPY SNAKE?"_

 _"Oh, the son of Kaa!" Victor said in dumb realization. "No, I'm looking for Carlos Rad...DUCK!"_

 _Victor pushed Sean out of the way just as a green-skinned witch girl gave flying on a broomstick at incredible speed._

 _"GET LOST, YOU MUNCHKINS!" she shouted as she dodged then and zigzagged through the air while still sticking to her broomstick. The girl had lime green skin and emerald green eyes. Her long, black hair reached her hips and had colored streaks shaded just like her eyes and skin. She wore a purple puffed sleeved shirt, black opera gloves, a lime and emerald tulip skirt underneath a small fishnet one, black high-heeled boots, and a long green cape that flowed behind her as she flew. A small green witch's hat crowned her head and she had three yellow facial marks shaped like diamonds over her left eye. The girl cackled as she flew on her broomstick._

"Don't tell me." Finius said. "Green skin. Witch hat. Flies on a broomstick. Cackles like a witch. Calls people munchkins. This is the daughter of the Wicked Witch Of The West?"

"Bingo," Mal said. "That's Winnie Witch."

 _"Time for Villainous Witchcraft class!" Winnie giggled to herself as she flew towards a dark doorway that lead to a stone passage lit by torches hanging on the walls. The young witch flew through the passage at incredible speed, ditching the passing staircases and bricks behind her. Things seemed normal..._

 _Until a human hand grabbed the broomstick's frame and tossed it like a cannonball from the Olympics, sending a stunned Winnie off her broomstick and falling down a couple stairs._

"What just happened?" Evie asked.

"It can't be Winnie's doing," Mal said. "She'd never let anyone yank her off her broomstick that easily."

 _"What...just happened?" Winnie sat up and grabbed her head. "Ouch! My head!"_

 _"Sweet dreams, witchy," an unfamiliar voice said. The young witch turned her head behind her long enough for her and the Auradonian crowd to see Winnie get hit on the head by something hidden and for the torches to burn out._

Thirty seconds later

 _"Alright, who turned off the lights?"_

 _A blue light appeared, revealing it to be Ingwer Hexe and Darcy Fae. The latter was summoning a ball of blue light from her hands._

 _"Since when does Professor Narissa turn of the torches?" Ingwer asked in confusion as Darcy led the way. "It's not her style to leave her students wandering in the dark in order to go to Villainous Witchcraft." Ingwer stopped walking when Darcy sprout open her shattered glass-like wings open in order to prevent the Candy Witch's daughter from walking further._

 _"I don't think it's her style to let a student in the middle of the passage like this," Darcy said as a horrified expression appeared on her face. She pointed a pale blue finger downward and Ingwer had a similar expression on her face._

 _"WINNIE!" Ingwer rushed to the unconscious body of Winnie, which had been lying on the staircase like some abandoned rag doll. Ingwer put her head on Winnie's chest. "She's still breathing! She's alright!"_

 _"Wow," Darcy gasped as she leaned closer. "Compared to David, Winnie doesn't look that horrible."_

 _"What makes you say that?"_

 _"Look at her head."_

 _Ingwer did as the dark fairy said and looked at Winnie's head: there was blood all over the left side of her face._

 _"Someone must have hit her on the head!" Ingwer gasped. "We'd better take her to see Medea..."_

 _"Ingwer, I wasn't referring about the blood," Darcy said. " I was referring about Winnie's mark of villainy."_

 _Darcy brought her light closer to the left eye of Winnie, right where the three yellow facial marks shaped like diamonds were. But they were gray colored rather than yellow colored._

"It's just like David," Xaos gasped as the screen went black. "Winnie Witch got attacked!"


	45. Skype Chats

Chapter 45: Skype Chats:

" **Two** attacks," Kory said as she groomed Carmine on Friday night while she and Lonnie had organized another sleepover in their dorm, this time only inviting Audrey, Macy, and Haya.

"I feel bad on how misjudging I was when Ben declared that VKs should be granted the opportunity to come to Auradon," Audrey sighed. Her face looked very depressed as she rubbed McPrince by the belly; obviously, she was displeased by how she had behaved last year.

"Eh, can you blame anyone?" Haya shrugged as she laid belly on the floor while scribbling in a game of Sudoku. "You people thought we were monsters like our parents. We thought you were a bunch of goodie, spoiled, uniformed dweebs."

"Gee, thanks Haya." Aurora's daughter dropped her head in a pillow. Macy whistled to McPrince, prompting the bear cub to rush towards its mistress and give her a figurative bear hug.

"Two students got attacked in Dragon Hall," Kory continued. "One boy and one girl. For some reason, each of them got their mark of villainy graydified."

"Graydified? Are you serious?" Haya gave a credulous look.

While the girls were discussing these issues, Lonnie was sitting on her bed, looking at a few Chinese ink drawings she had just made. One of them was a drawing of when she and Artemis Nightmare had danced in the Dreamworld. Oh, how she missed him. Lonnie sure did hope that she would see him soon...once he was done with his rebellion against his mother, Nightmare Moon.

Her hand clung on to the broche he had given to her, still warm as she touched it. It was quite touching that Artemis used his magic to find a way to give her that love token both 'physically' and spiritually.

 _I wonder what it would be like if he came to Auradon?_ Lonnie wondered.

 _'Now the time has come for all the clans tae slaughter you!'_ a ringtone caused Lonnie to jump, nearly shuffling her drawings. The other girls had a similar reaction and Carmine and McPrince hid under Kory's mattress. Macy, however, picked a nearby Scottish-designed tablet, from which emitted the ringtone. _'We'll make his hide a cozy chair, his head upon the wall.'_

"My dad's calling me on Skype!" she said excitedly.

"You put the Mord'u song as a ringtone to alert you of your dad calling you?" Haya said.

"Sure thing. We've been Skyping once a month since I came here. Of course, I usually did it whenever we where alone in our dorm..." Macy squealed giddily.

"But...does the Fairy Godmother know about this?" Lonnie asked nervously. "I mean, you know how she gave Haya detention for smuggling the Hun rum without permission in school?"

"Not my fault Kory's loudmouth of a boyfriend tipped me off while he was talking to his dad!" Haya retorted.

"Hey!" Kory protested while Macy placed her tablet on the table in a position where all the girls could see the screen. Without even bothering to ask if the girls were OK with this, Macy slid the screen, revealing an image of four men. The eldest was a bearded man with orange hair similar to Macy's dressed in a golf uniform, with the plaid green-and-red pants and black Jacobite shirt. Next to him was a younger man, with a crew cut hairstyle shaded with the same colors as Macy's hair; he was wearing an Isle Of The Lost jersey of the Killer Mongolians, the Hun team of jeerball. The remaining two men were younger, but looked like they were the same age. The first one had a Caesar haircut while the second one had a buzz cut. Both wore Killer Mongolian jerseys like the other one.

"Dad! Bros!" Macy exclaimed happily once she saw them on the screen.

"Macy, me lass!" the bearded man said. Like his daughter, Macbeth had a vivid Scottish accent. "How've you been doing, me redheaded rascal?" The other men chuckled at Macbeth's words.

"Dad, we're all redheads in the family," Macy replied back. "Minus Mother, and she's no dumb blonde." She made a funny look on her face as if it were falling, prompting lots of laughter before she went straight on to introducing her family to Audrey and Lonnie. "Girls, these are my dad, the one and only King Macbeth, and my older brothers. Alasdair is the one with the crew cut hairdo, Aengus is the one with the Caesar haircut, and the last one is obviously my brother Blair. Bros, Dad, these are some of my new friends: there's Sleeping Beauty's daughter, Audrey, and then there's Lonnie, Mulan's daughter."

"Hello, kids!" Macbeth waved amiable.

"Sup," Macy's brothers said in casual unison.

"Hi," Audrey said.

"It's nice to meet you," Lonnie said.

"So, Old Mac, how's it been?" Haya asked.

"Old Mac?" Lonnie frowned.

"I like to be called that way," Macbeth said. "Honestly, I got over the entire 'King Macbeth', 'Thane Macbeth', or 'All Hail Macbeth, Hail To Thee Whatever You Are'."

"You're also known as The-Loony-With-Zombie-Wife," Blair said bluntly.

"Blair! Mind your manners!" Alasdair scolded his younger brother. "It's not dad's fault mom went through sleepwalking paranoia."

"How's Mother doing?" Macy asked. Judging by the way she said this quickly as if she wanted to move on, her friends could tell that she wasn't eager to talk about Lady Macbeth at all.

"Oh, she's gone to a meeting at the Council in my place," Macbeth said.

"You're part of the Villainous Council, Mr. Macbeth?" Lonnie asked.

"He is," Haya said, "along with my dad, important members of the council."

"For being well-reputational villains, indeed," Macbeth answered. "But I pretended to have a poor tummy ache in order for my wife to replace me for today's meeting..."

"Dad!" Macy cried in disbelief. "Why on earth would you do that?"

"He just wanted to talk with you, Mace," Aengus said. "If Mother was still in the house and caught Dad Skyping with you, she'd instantly snatch the tablet from him and give you one of her lectures."

"Macedonia Beth!" Blair gave a high, haughty female Scottish accent as he pretended to act royal. "What did we say? Stand up straight when you're spoken to! Young lady, how dare you not respond to your mother? Is this any way a future evil queen must behave? Have you no shame in dishonoring your family's history and legacy?" Blair then made the dramatic body gesture of fainting. "Save me from my death! My only daughter has clearly gone wrong! Where have I gone wrong in her education?"

Lonnie covered her mouth while she and Haya chuckled at Blair's dramatic representation.

"Macedonia?" Lonnie chuckled. "Macy's actual name is _Macedonia_?"

"Parents can be cruel," Haya snickered and gave Lonnie a high five while Macy gave Blair a dry glare for his sense of humor.

"Oh, you kids these days!" Macbeth chuckled as he wiped away a tear. "Fixing family feuds and all! How sweet! Well, I'm glad you're having a great day, Macy me dear. Because compared to here..." His voice trailed off.

"Yeah, we know," Kory said. "Two kids got attacked in Dragon Hall for some reason."

"Actually, make that three..." Aengus said.

"WHAT?" the girls exclaimed. A banging noise was heard on the screen. Blair quickly went off screen to check out what it was, only to run back in frenzy.

"She's here!" he exclaimed.

"By the Weird Sisters!" Macbeth exclaimed in equal shock before turning back to his daughter. "We'll have to talk later, sweetie. It was nice meeting your new friends, but we must go!"

"Dad, what's going on?" Macy asked. "Who was the third victim?"

"Ask X.E.N.I.A, sis," Alasdair said before hanging up, leaving the screen dark.

"Another attack?" Audrey gasped. "Ben's not gonna like this..."

"Give it here." Kory snatched Macy's tablet and began fiddling with it.

"Kory, what are you doing?" the Scottish girl demanded as she tried to get her tablet back, only for Carmine to jump from underneath the mattress and stand between Macy and its mistress in order to protect her.

"I'm sending a text to X.E.N.I.A," Kory answered while tapping on the tablet. "Asking her about the attack."

"Couldn't you just let Macy do it?" Lonnie asked.

"Forget it, Lonnie," Haya said as she sat on Kory's bed. "X.E.N.I.A is like her dad X.A.N.A: a cold A.I that hates almost everyone. Fortunately, X.E.N.I.A has a few people on her 'Like' list, and Kory's one of them."

"She'll know it's me when I send her that text." Kory tapped one more time. "Done."

"How will she know it's from you?" Audrey asked.

"She pointed out to me once that I have very poor verb tenses that are easily recognizable to her." A beep was heard from the tablet. "She answered back!"

"So, what does she say?" Macy asked.

"Oh God..." Kory gasped. She turned the screen towards her friends. "It was Izzy!"

The girls were horrified by what they saw enlarged in the screen: a picture of Izzy Yzzi, Yzma's daughter, lying unconscious on the stage floor in the auditorium room. Dark blue, red, and yellow paint were stained on her purple mandarin collar jacket, black leggings and heels as if she was bleeding with colored blood. Right when the picture was taken, Facilier, another emergency squad of Huns, some unibrowed man in a fancy suit, and Ingwer Hexe were seen rushing towards the poor girl.

"X.E.N.I.A even sent to me a feedback about the attack seen in the UNHOLY GAZETTE," Kory said as she turned the screen back to her, tapped, and skimmed through it. "Apparently, Count Olaf-our Evil Drama class teacher-is hosting a school play before the Christmas break and Izzy is part of the stage prop team. She spent her lunch break painting a prop house for the play until she got attacked. Ingwer found her unconscious when she went to check on her and rushed to get help."

"Ingwer and Izzy are like best friends," Haya sighed as she clenched her fists. "Seeing Izzy like this must have been bad for Ingwer just like for Dolflynn when David got attacked."

"There's more." Kory turned the screen back at the girls, revealing Izzy's bare left ankle. A gray mark representing a skull-shaped smoke coming out of a potion vial could be seen. "Her mark got graydified."

"Not again..." Macy grumbled.

"Isn't it a bit weird," Audrey asked, "that each of the three victims were alone when they were attacked and their marks of villainy somehow lose their colors and they all end up gray?"

"Well it certainly isn't a traditional thing," Kory acknowledged as she turned off Macy's tablet and gave it back to its owner. "Usually, when a villain gets his or her mark of villainy, it's a permanent symbol of who they are and what kind of villain they'll become. Even the colors are essential when it comes to representing the mark's owner: the colors never change or fade even as time flies and wrinkles cover you."

"Even if you put a tattoo over it?" Lonnie suggested.

"Nah," Haya replied. "I knew this one Hun who got his mark of villainy when we were kids and he was so embarrassed that he tried to cover it with a huge eagle tattoo, but in the end, the mark burned the tattoo, along with his entire arm." Audrey and Lonnie both gave a 'Yeesh' face. "Even though his arm, where his mark was located, was missing, it appeared right on the wound once he was amputated."

"What happened to him?" Lonnie asked.

"He got kicked out of the clan. Huns who got handicapped from situations outside of war and acts of bravery are considered as humiliations."

"That doesn't seem fair."

"You come from a country where women are expected to be silent, housewives, bare sons, and be executed if they dare join the army. You're going to tell me that my ethnic group's discriminatory perspective is unfair?" Haya arched a skeptical eyebrow at her FNF. Before the latter could reply, another ringtone was heard; only this time it was playing 'Be A Man.'

"DANG IT!" Lonnie exclaimed as she rushed through her belongings. "My mom's calling me!"

"We should have considered turning this into an electronic device-free sleepover," Audrey told Kory. The latter nodded in agreement.

"Maybe I...should go to the bathroom," Haya said quickly as she got up and began heading for the door, only to be blocked by Macy and McPrince. The bear cub growled.

"Time out, Haya." Macy made listing gestures with her fingers. "You can tackle an entire army, drag bulls by the horns, lift Hun rum barrels using one hand, and build tanks out of makeshift firecrackers..."

"Tanks out of firecrackers?" Lonnie asked as she found her ringing laptop and settled on her bed to answer it.

"The Huns build sculptures out of firecrackers they made themselves for their calendar's new year," Kory explained before she began snickering. "Funny story, Lonnie: ever since your mom launched a fire rocket at Shan Yu, he's _afraid_ of fireworks! Heck, he was terrified at the idea of Haya..."

"What...did you say... **ABOUT MY DAD?** " Haya shouted before running after Kory through the dorm in the hopes of strangling her. Carmine purposely put herself right in front of Haya, causing the Hun girl to fall on the floor. With no second thoughts, Audrey grabbed a pillow and stuffed it onto Haya's head. "Think of happiness! Think of happiness!"

"Mmph mm-mmph mmph!" Haya muffled through the pillow.

"She's telling you to take off the pillow from her head," a voice said. It came from the screen on Lonnie's laptop: Mulan was speaking.

"Oh, hi mom!" Lonnie said nervously.

"Lonnie, why on earth is your friend Haya being suffocated by a pillow?" Mulan frowned on the screen.

"You know about Haya?" Kory was starting to sweat.

Lonnie's mother smiled. "Of course! Lonnie has told me everything about her new friends. I'm guessing you two are Kory Lokisia and Macy Beth? I can tell through your accents."

"Mom!" Lonnie said embarrassingly.

"C'mon, Lonnie. It's a compliment!" Kory reassured her. "At least she's not telling us that our clothes are so descriptive."

"Mmph-mmph-mmph!" Haya muffled again.

"What did she say this time?" Audrey asked, confused.

"She said: 'And to think we get that often'," Mulan translated.

"How can you tell?" Macy asked, impressed.

"Oh, my daughter slept so much with her face on her pillow that, whenever I tried to wake her up, she speak in 'Muffledese,' as she called it when she was ten."

"MOM!" Lonnie asked. Her face got redder with embarrassment while her friends chuckled at the story.

"But seriously, I think you'd want to remove that pillow from her head," Mulan said seriously.

"Well Haya has this thing of 'she won't move until she gets an apology'." Macy glared at Kory. "You're gonna have to say you're sorry."

"And what are you going to do if I don't?" Kory crossed her arms and gave a grim look.

"I'll tell your boyfriend about that accident involving Victor Witherdale," Macy smirked. Kory's face darkened.

"If you do that, I'll have Charles post that accident involving Gabriel!" Kory retorted.

"You wouldn't!"

"Oh, I would!"

Haya gently lifted her head, prompting Audrey to leave her space to get up. Meanwhile, the two bickering girls were making quite a foolish tantrum.

"We're so sorry you had to see that, ma'am," Haya told Mulan politely. "We just had a tough day."  
"I can't imagine," Mulan said sympathetically before turning back to her daughter. "By the way, Lonnie, your father and I just received your midterm results, and I just wanted to tell you how proud we are of your good work!"

"Thanks, Mom." Lonnie smiled.

"That's why we thought of planning this ski trip during the Christmas trip as a little reward, and guess what? We agreed that you could bring _three_ friends."

Lonnie got excited. "Really?"

"Of course. As long as they're available, of course..."

"Mal's going with Ben on a cruise," Audrey said. "Heard Gabriel's joining them. Gitane, Avery, and the gargoyles are going to bring Charles with them to Paris. Once again, Evie and Doug are going to go to his dad and uncles' cottage. Jay and I are going to be alone in my parents' castle while they're on vacation in London. Finius is going back to Scotland, and Aaricia is going to visit her dad's family in Asgard..."

Lonnie turned towards Haya. "Think you, Kory, and Macy would be interested in skiing?"

"Shouldn't be a problem," Haya said.

"Good!" Mulan said. "I'll make reservations and let the Headmistress know in advance. Nevertheless, do stay on track with your grades, Lonnie."

"I will, Mom," Lonnie reassured her.

They made quick goodbyes before turning off the screens and Haya sending her two band mates to the bathroom to cool off.

"So, what was these two accidents involving Gabriel and Victor?" Audrey asked.

"Probably the most idiotic thing you'll ever hear in history," Haya warned. "Back in Dragon Hall, Victor Witherdale and Gabriel Legume were both in the same Lustful Pervertology and Damsel Tormenting classes, and one day, the teachers of those two classes paired up to give the students a ghastly homework assignment: sexually and perversely harass a damsel of their choice."

"Oh God..." Lonnie covered her mouth in order to avoid throwing up, thinking back to the first days of school when Gabriel touched her butt. Audrey looked somewhat disgusted, but gave a nod for Haya to continue.

"So Gabriel and Victor made the bet that one could get a better grade on the assignment while the lose would have to dip his feet in the Bog Of Eternal Stench-you know, that bog that's in the labyrinth where Jareth and Crystal Maze live? Gabriel and Victor then proceeded onto their targets: Macy and Kory."

"What did they do?" Audrey asked.

"Well, Gabe heard one day that Macy was going to be home alone in Iverness, the residence of Macbeth and his family, while her parents were visiting friends and her brothers went out to practice jeerball. Gabe waited to make sure that only Macy was left in the castle. He waited and he waited..."

"That's all he did? Wait?"

"Then came the shower scene..."

" **THE SHOWER SCENE?** " Audrey and Lonnie screamed.

"Yeah." Haya looked displeased at the mere mention. "Once Macy was 'alone', she went off to take a shower and Gabe saw the opportunity. For Macy, it seemed normal to her at first: going to the bathroom, removing her clothes, and stepping into the shower in order to let the water soak on your skin...until the crazy guy who has a weird crush on you jumps through the window, grabs her, and does her unimaginable things.

"Fortunately, the Macbeth's neighbors, Queen Narissa and her son Speciosus, were home while this was taking place, and since Gabriel didn't think about closing the window from which he came through, Speciosus could easily see Gabriel assaulting Macy while he was doing his homework in the living room. He called his mom over, she saw what happened and she called my dad and Macy's parents."

"Let me guess," Lonnie said. "They instantly came and when they rescued Macy, Gabriel got punched?"

Haya grinned. "By Old Mac, Macy's brothers, Macy, and me at school when I learned about what happened. And Manny Colchis? He poured acid on Gabriel's head as payback for harassing his girlfriend." The girls laughed at the reason why Gabriel was partially bald: bookworm Manny Colchis pouring some acid on the head of Gaston's son.

"And between Victor and Kory?"

"This one was rather weird. You see, since Victor is a vampire like his dad, James Witherdale, he's more familiar with tracking and assaulting preys for sport, so for him the bet between him and Gabriel sounded more like a hunting game. He chose Kory because he never got the opportunity to hunt and drink blood from a demigod. Victor then stalked her all the way to Noir's store and when he saw Kory line up to go to the fitting room, he used his fur cape to make himself invisible and follow Kory right inside her fitting room. It practically sounds a lot like the shower scenario, but Victor revealed himself once Kory was in her undergarments, gagged her, and tried to do his job."

"How did Kory get out?" Lonnie asked.

"She got DARN lucky. You see, she was trying out this new-buttoned dress, and when I'm saying 'buttoned', I mean there were actual buttons on it. You wonder why this relevant? Because the dress's buttons were part of a button donation that Noir received from Otrera Beldam, the Other Mother's daughter..."

"Oh, I heard of her!" Audrey said. "My mom told me the story of that creature sewing buttons onto eyes and eating children's souls. That was the scariest bedtime story my mom ever told me after the one of Maleficent cursing her."

"Yup. Otrera is like her mom: she can see through any button that she uses or has used for sewing. Kids at Dragon Hall are freaked out by her out of the fear that she'd sew buttons on them. Anyway, some of the buttons she used and donated were on the dress Kory wanted to try on and Otrera's button eyes got a visual of the scene through the dress's buttons. She just marched right into the fitting room like some businesswoman and threatened to sew buttons on Victor's eyes and eat his soul if he didn't leave Kory alone. The guy SO did not want to find out if she could do such a thing to a vampire, so he did as she said and left Kory alone."

"Bummer," Lonnie said. "And what happened to Gabriel and Victor's bet?"

"Well, they both got the same grade, a Monstrous Plus, so they both lost and had to put their feet in the Bog Of Eternal Stench, but after receiving complaints from the parents, Headmaster Facilier thought that for 'going way too beyond proper pervertology', they should instead take a bath in the bog for two days. And believe me, Kory and Macy were _way_ happy at the idea of pushing them in the bog themselves."

"I bet," Audrey chuckled.

"Lesson learned: don't take extreme levels," Haya concluded. "Otherwise, trouble will come."


	46. Trip To Fiske Estate

Chapter 46: Trip To Fiske Estate:

 **(Note from author: the viewpoint has changed from the kids at Auradon Prep to those on the Isle Of The Lost for now.)**

It was hardly 5 am on the Isle Of The Lost as Ruby rode her sportbike on the Kraken Trail that expanded right on the dangerous northern coastal cliffs. Early morning mist covered the road up ahead, which can be quite dangerous for someone driving at a dangerous area.

But Ruby Kyle was used to this: she was Catwoman's daughter, after all. She spent fifteen years living in Gotham, running in the dark alleys and relying on her instincts to survive and steal. She even used those skills when she spent about a year running away from her mother and living off on her own before they got caught...

Ruby hit the brakes when her memories and a dead end nearly hit her. _Damn it_ , she thought. _Why can't I forget about that year?_

She remembered it all too well: it was eleven months before Ruby and Catwoman's arrest. A younger and somewhat naive Ruby had tried to go solo and steal a diamond necklace from a jewelry store in Gotham to show her mother that she could work things out by herself. It went all perfectly: she used her makeshift gadgets to break into an air vent, disable the red laser security system, and easily use her hairclip as a lockpick in order to unlock the glass case that held the necklace.

But the best-laid plans never go well. She didn't expect the jewelry store owner to have an alarm back at his house notifying him of a security system malfunction, and the next thing Ruby knew, the cops were approaching the store. Ruby had to abandon the necklace back in its initial spot and get out before the cops caught her.

Her theft failure was nothing compared to Catwoman's disappointment. The young mother berated her daughter for not thinking things thoroughly: did Ruby think of a double-security system? No. Did she come back with the stolen necklace? No. Did she even think of disguising herself in order to conceal her identity and hide from the authorities any clue of who she was? No. And did she show that she could take care of herself? No.

Ruby had felt like her mother didn't care for her, so she ran away from their hideout, briefly going away from Gotham. Outside of her mother's protection, she began to see what it was like to fend off for herself. She learned how to survive. She made encounters that would change her life for the better or for the worst. She became a mercenary, disguising herself and appearing as an older person to the eyes of others. Ruby believed to have found freedom, but in the end, she got betrayed and arrested. And Catwoman in all of this? Well it turned out that she was terribly worried for Ruby and desperately tried finding her daughter. Turned out that when the Gotham justice sentenced Ruby Kyle, best known as the mercenary Shadow Seeker, to imprisonment on the Isle Of The Lost, Catwoman turned herself over to the authorities as well in order to prevent her daughter from suffering a fate worse than death: being alone without a parent to protect her from the dangers of the island prison.

Back to the present: Ruby glanced at the red DEAD END sign that stood in front of her. Just behind that sign stood several dark trees that grew into larger numbers until it seemed like they faded into the mist. Not wanting to step into the Infinite Forest Of Evil, Ruby turned her sportbike around and began making her way back to civilization.

Cold wind was blowing on her face as she drove back on the Kraken Trail. Her backpack felt heavy on her as she drove. Although classes at Dragon Hall only started at 8am, Ruby always brought her school stuff with her during her VERY early sportbike rides in case they took longer than she expected and she'd have to rush straight to Dragon Hall before even getting the opportunity to go back home and have a proper breakfast. _Well it's not like the food here is any better than the ones I found in the Gotham garbage disposals_ , Ruby thought to herself.

A heavy bump was felt underneath the tires of her vehicle, causing Ruby to lose balance and for her sportbike to fly off the trail. Ruby jumped off, landing harshly onto the granite trail. Her sportbike, on the other hand, didn't get any better. It broke upon impact, oil was leaking, and almost everything was scratched.

"Ben is so gonna exterminate me," Ruby gasped in anxiety. There was no way the son of Ultron would refund her for the welcome gift that he had given her.

She then felt a horrible pain that made her groan. Ruby struggled to sit up and saw that her right leg was injured. Through the ripped fabric, a ghastly wound with fresh red blood could be seen. Without any hesitation, Ruby scavenged through her bag and tried to look for something to cover her leg.

That's when she heard the hissing.

"Who's out there?" Ruby asked out loud. The mist began to fade away, but Ruby still had to squint in order to have a better view. She then saw what had caused her to fall.

It was a monstrous snake, longer than two school buses and thicker than an oak tree. At first, judging by its head, Ruby could tell it was an anaconda, but judging by its skin and scale patterns, it could have also been a python. Maybe both. Whatever the species was, she didn't want to find out. Her leg might be injured, but Ruby certainly didn't want to turn into snake food.

Just as she barely managed to stand up despite her injured leg, a terrified chirp got her attention. She looked back at the monstrous snake and gasped in horror when she saw the reason why the snake had blocked the trail. Just by a wall of stone, the snake was cornering a small capuchin monkey. The monster didn't care if it had accidently injured Ruby. It only cared about its dinner.

Ruby wanted to run and save herself from being killed. Yet...she couldn't leave the poor capuchin at the jaws of the snake. Ruby wasn't a monster too. She wasn't...evil.

"I can't believe I'm doing this!" Ruby grumbled as she scavenged once again through her backpack, only this time she pulled out a book-sized MP5 gun full of titanium bullets that she always carried with her for safety. She then aimed her gun at the snake and pulled the trigger without a blink.

The snake hissed in anger when it felt the bullet plunge through its thick skin like a drill breaking through a thick wall. It hissed and slithered in circles angrily on the trail while Ruby took the opportunity to rush painfully towards the capuchin and push it away from the scene.

"Get out of here!" she told the capuchin. "Go!"

The capuchin nodded as if it understood her and began to run off just as the snake swung its thick tail at Ruby and sent her smashing against the wall. This time, she could feel her rib cage beginning to crack and her hand letting go of her gun.

"Well...at least I did the right thing," Ruby said, spitting blood out of her mouth as she saw the snake heading towards her, intending to finish the girl off until several gun shots were heard, prompting the snake to abandon its prey and slither away into the Infinite Forest Of Evil.

"That's right, you cursed beast!" a man with a brown Franz Josef beard and an explorer outfit shouted in a thick British accent as he kept holding his gun towards the disappeared snake. "Slither away like the coward you are!"

The capuchin from earlier hopped back to Ruby and put a gentle hand on her cheek.

"You really are a stubborn capuchin," she chuckled.

"Oh, you poor child!" the man said. He put away his gun and helped Ruby get up. "You need some help!"

Time skip

It was now 5:45am and dawn was on the verge of appearing in the sky as Bates, the man who rescued Ruby, drove the Jeep away from the Kraken Trail and into the Northern District, where most of the Isle Of The Lost's aristocratic villains resided in fancier houses or their estates that have been removed from Auradon and into the Isle. You'd feel like going through a neighborhood that was full of only castles and fancy mansions compared to the rundown, makeshift, or poor-looking ghettos like the one Ruby now lived in.

"What on earth were you doing near the end of the Kraken Trail at this time of the day?" Bates asked Ruby as she held on to a pack of ice on her head.

"I usually drive early in the morning as exercise," Ruby answered while the capuchin rested on her lap. "Helps me have a clear mind first thing in the morning."

"Clear thoughts are always a good thing to have," Bates said. "But driving in the mist and confronting a snake. That's risky. I hope for your sake that Lady De Mort doesn't start seeking for your head if she learned of your snake assault."

Ruby perked a surprised eyebrow at Bates when he mentioned the name and title of Penna De Mort, Voldemort's daughter and the most feared villain by all other villains on the Isle. "Why would she want my head?"

"You tried to harm a snake, and all the snakes around the island obey her and venerate her as their own goddess. While she has many minions, Lady De Mort cherishes snakes and serpents the most, most notably the monstrous basilisks. Harming a snake would mean being an enemy of Lady De Mort."

A normal person would have probably panicked, decided to lock himself away and avoid getting into trouble, or even fallen onto his knees and begged Penna De Mort for mercy, which would probably be the least recommended option. Ruby Kyle might probably be a normal person, but she didn't easily act as a coward when danger threatened her. Danger was sort of a proliferative threat in the streets within Gotham, and Ruby grew up facing dangers. So one immortal witch wasn't going to scare her easily.

"Fancy neighborhood," Ruby switched the topic as Bates drove through Overlord Boulevard, a neighborhood that seemed less packed with fancy buildings but with several large estates, each occupied by one dark castle. Ruby remembered how Crystal Maze told her that even though the Isle looked quite small from the outside, it was a larger world on the inside, which only increased every time Auradon dropped in a new villain or a new strap of evil-filled environment.

"Isn't it?" Bates agreed. "Overlord Boulevard is reserved for those with larger estates in the Northern Estate. My masters' estate is right at the end of the boulevard." As the Jeep went on, Bates took the liberty of showing some of the castles they passed, such as Iverness, the grand yet ominous castle hanging over a tall cliff where the Macbeths, minus their only daughter now, resided, Queen Narissa's spiral castle that looked a lot more like a dark, stony and twisted version of the Mode-Gakuen Spiral Towers, and the crimson Chinese Tower that rose above the clouds. Many villains have always wondered how the heck Lord Shen and his daughter Sharon Paon Lei could stand walking up and down the tower's monstrous stairs.

Finally, they reached the end of Overlord Boulevard. Ruby looked ahead and saw that the boulevard ended with a black marble bridge rising above the Tarrian River and leading to a grey castle that looked like one of those British castles found in selling catalogs that Gotham reserved to rich people only. As they got closer, Ruby couldn't help but feel like the castle sent out a wave of déjà vu.

"Here we are," Bates said as he drove through a passage leading to a small, yet quaint parking space where he parked the Jeep. "We'll take you inside and fix you up."

Time skip

"Ouch!" Ruby yelped in pain as Bates examined her injured leg. It was now ten minutes before 6am and Bates, along with the capuchin, had taken her to a small, infirmary like room (yes, the castle had that) located in the same level as the parking space. According to Bates, his primary master usually used this room to take care of his wounded 'animals'. Ruby had taken a small mental note that Bates had hesitated at the mention of the word 'animals' as if he was using that word to replace something else.

"Are you sure your masters will be OK with you letting me in without any notification?" Ruby groaned as Bates gently tapped her wound with a wet towel. "I don't want to feel like I'm breaking in."

"Nonsense. You'll be fixed and escorted back home without my masters even knowing," Bates assured her. "Speaking of, you should perhaps notify your parents. They might be worried sick!"

"I would, but my mom keeps forgetting that Auradonian cell phones don't exactly work well in the Isle Of The Lost." Ruby checked the pocket on her shirt where she usually kept her cellphone. Unfortunately, since it was part of the area where the snake hit her, all she pulled out was a smashed phone. "Plus I don't think I can call her."

Before Bates could reply, a beeping was heard from his pocket. He pulled out what appeared to be a walkie-talkie and answered it: "Yes, my lord?"

"Bates, have you caught Cappuccino?" a thicker and darker British accent asked through the device. The capuchin hid behind Ruby nervously as Bates responded through the walkie-talkie.

"Yes, my lord."

"Bring her up to the dojo. My son and I need to have a chat with that monkey ninja."

Monkey ninja? Why does this keep ringing a bell?

"I'm afraid that I must quickly attend to my masters," Bates said as he put away the walkie-talkie. "But I'll be right back. Keep patting your wound with that towel and wait here."

Ruby nodded. Bates then took the capuchin-or was it Cappuccino? -with him. Once the kind man closed the door, Ruby stayed quiet in the infirmary room. Her eyes shifted around the infirmary. It seemed like an ordinary infirmary room like those you saw in schools, including the pictures of the body and its organs and the walls painted in a neat white. In the distance, the sound of a harpsichord was heard.

That's when Ruby noticed something strange about the harpsichord sound. It seemed repetitive and...familiar.

She quickly glanced around the infirmary one more time and saw things she hadn't noticed before: the room's picture of the body and its organs had a picture of a more simian-like body, and the white walls had faint, yet clearly visible, painted fancy patterns of monkeys swinging in vines.

"Oh wait a minute," Ruby muttered to herself and began listing through her fingers. "British castle, capuchin monkey ninja, harpsichord music, simian themed infirmary usually used for treating 'animals'. Oh crap..."

Yep. The realization told Ruby that she should get the hell out, but her injuries told her the contrary. So now it meant that she was stuck in the castle of the Fiske family. The only thing she could hope for now that was that the castle's primary master, Lord Monkey Fist, had forgotten the Shadow Seeker being the inadvertent catalyst of his and his son's arrest and imprisonment.


	47. Lords Monty and Martin Fiske

Chapter 47: Lords Monty and Martin Fiske:

5:55am

"Harder!" Monkey Fist shouted as he got into another Tai Shing Pek Kwar pose in the center of the dojo. His fists were ready and got into a defense stance when he saw the upcoming punch that was aiming right at his face.

"Missed!" He gave a taunting gloat until he sensed a leg aiming right at his, prompting the monkey man to hop off the red floor, causing the opposing leg to miss its target.

"Nice try, but try..." A headbutt that landed right on his forehead sending Monkey Fist halfway across the dojo cut him off.

"Are you alright, Father?" his opponent asked as he rushed to help his father get up.

"I certainly did not see that one coming," Monkey Fist admitted as his hand rubbed the area where his son hit him. "You've really been practicing your monkey kung fu. I'm impressed."

"I learned from the best."

Monkey Fist smiled proudly at his son, Martin Fiske. Martin was the perfect ideal son for a megalomaniacal practitioner of monkey kung fu like himself: like his father, he had the hands and feet of a monkey (except that for Martin's case, he was born with them), he was becoming an expert in the art of Monkey Kung Fu, he commanded an army of monkey ninjas, he knew everything about mystical monkey artifacts...The list was infinite. Martin was like his father and showed that he wanted to become like his father more than anything else in the world.

Aside from the entire monkey business, Lord Monty Fiske (that was Monkey Fist's real name) did genuinely love his son. He calmed down a bit on his lust-for-power-obsession in order to raise Martin properly in their castle. Thank Heavens that Discord, the reformed spirit of chaos, had some pity when he found Monkey Fist petrified in the International Sculpture Garden of Auradon (yes, Auradon was cruel enough to put a stoned villain on display) and freed Monkey Fist from his contract with Yono and his stoned status. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been blessed with Martin.

But then that blasted mercenary, the 'Shadow Seeker', as she was called, had to steal a monkey statue from the Fiske Estate and leading the Fiskes to run after her, only to find their castle surrounded by the authorities and an eternal imprisonment on the Isle Of The Lost.

Bates, the family butler, stepped into the dojo, accompanied by Cappuccino, one of the monkey ninjas that Martin had personally trained (Monkey Fist never understood why his son gave his monkey ninjas Italian names despite the father and son's British heritage).

"The monkey, as you requested, my lord," Bates said as he brought the capuchin monkey in front of the masters. That monkey had a record for sneaking away and causing misfits.

"Cappuccino, what have you been up to?" Martin scolded as he removed the collar he had placed around the capuchin's neck the same way he did for his other minions. "No, don't tell me. I'll figure out myself."

"You really need to keep that minion on track, Martin," Lord Monkey Fist told his son.

"Don't worry, Father. The collars I put around my ninjas' necks contain micro-cameras that film everything occurring around them. Just to make sure that they do their jobs properly."

Monkey Fist wanted to cry: his son was too perfect.

As Martin worked on playing the recorded footage from the collar's micro-camera, Monkey Fist couldn't help but notice that Bates was fidgeting nervously. It seemed like the loyal butler was in a hurry to leave the dojo.

"Is something troubling you, Bates?" he asked.

The butler sighed: "My lord, I..."

"Got it!" Martin exclaimed. A video was projected from the camera, prompting the men to get closer to watch it. It turned out that Cappuccino had inadvertently wandered off into the Infinite Forest Of Evil while on patrol and got the attention of one of Lady De Mort's pythonacondas, leading to a chase between the capuchin and the snake until the snake had it cornered at the Kraken Trail.

"Great," Lord Monty Fiske muttered. "The capuchin was meddling with one of that snake-loving demon witch's minions." Unlike most residents on the Isle, this villain didn't fear Penna De Mort: he hated her out of spite for being in a field involving one of monkeys' predators, thus making them natural enemies.

"Father, look at this!" Martin urged his father to look at the video: it seemed normal, with the pythonaconda cornering Cappuccino, until it was noticed that a silhouette driving a sportbike through the mist accidently bumped onto the snake and was sent flying and crashing (with the noises heard). The pythonaconda didn't seem to care that it got 'hit' by a sportbike: it only cared about killing the capuchin.

Then came a gunshot, which caused the pythonaconda to hiss and slither in anger. The camera then turned towards a girl with messy, pixie cut brown hair wearing a black biker's jacket, purple pants, and riding boots. Her right leg, however, had ripped pants' fabric revealing a ghastly bleeding wound. And the girl was holding a gun aiming at the snake.

"She rescued Cappuccino," Martin said in both impressment and surprise. His father had a similar reaction: most of the human residents of the Isle didn't like him the same way he disliked humans, and yet this girl, who looked very much human, had dared to rescue one of the Fiske monkey ninjas.

" _Get out of here! Go!"_ the girl said while staring at the camera/capuchin. The capuchin nodded and ran off just as Bates had arrived on the spot.

" _Cappuccino, what on earth are you_ -?" Bates said in the video until a crashing noise got his and the monkey's attention: the snake had hit the girl harshly on her rib cage with its tail, nearly crushing her to death on the stone wall and about to attack her. Bates had then interfered by grabbing his own gun and shooting warning bullets, prompting the beast to slither back into the forest. Martin then paused the video right at the moment when Bates was helping the girl back into the Jeep.

"Bates, is there something you wanted to tell us?" Monkey Fist asked firmly as he and his son turned to face the butler.

6:00am

"Ouch!" the girl yelped as Martin's father wrapped the white bandages around her leg.

"It should take about a week or so for your leg to heal," Monkey Fist said once he was done. "As for the special cast I used for your ribs: it might take longer. I highly disrecommend taking any intense sports...unless you want to become permanently handicapped."

"Thank you...sir." The girl said gratefully. "You really didn't have to do that."

"Nonsense. Anyone who saves one of our monkey ninjas from one of those ghastly snakes is welcomed here."

"You look familiar," Martin remarked. "Have we met?"

"I don't think so." The girl frowned in confusion. "My mom and I have only been imprisoned on the Isle for two months now."

"And which villain is your mother?" Monkey Fist asked as he put away the medicine he had used to heal the girl's injuries.

"Catwoman."

"Oh, then you must be Rebecca Kyle!" Martin snapped his fingers in realization. "I heard that Dragon Hall had a new supervillain student around the beginning of the school year!"

"Actually, most people call me Ruby," Catwoman's daughter pointed out. "I frankly prefer it over my birth name."

"Another animal-based villain!" Monkey Fist clasped his hands together in excitement. "It was about time!"

"Uh...aren't there a bunch of them on the Isle Of The Lost?" Ruby asked.

"Yes, but almost all of them are actual animals." Monkey Fist gave a rather deadpan face while Martin shook his head in exasperation.

Bates then came into the infirmary, carrying a tray full of tea in one hand and a phone on the other. "Tea and the phone, as requested, my lord," he said.

"Thank you, Bates. Now do go check and see that breakfast is ready," Lord Monty Fiske said before turning back to Ruby. "I will give your mother a call to notify her of your presence in our Estate."

"In that case you're gonna want to put the speaker on," Ruby warned, "because even without it, my mom freaks out very loudly on the phone."

So while Lord Fiske went to call Catwoman after Ruby had given him her mother's number and Bates went to check on breakfast, Ruby and Martin were left alone in the infirmary. The son of Monkey Fist couldn't help but mentally notice Ruby's cuteness: her pixie haircut, her outfit that only a thrill-seeker would wear, her brown eyes, and her fake sharp nails. They definetly spoke as characteristics of a human gone wild and into the animal side, using animal instincts to survive in the outside world. Former humans like him and his dad.

"So...your dad, he makes a good doctor," Ruby said, trying to start a conversation.

"He actually minored in veterinary medicine aside from majoring in archaeology when he was in college," Martin said, rather proud of his father's background. "No need to add that he was mostly better at treating simians, especially monkeys."

They stayed quiet for a few more minutes. Ruby was tapping her fingers nervously on the chair she was sitting on. Her fake nails made somewhat scratching noises everytime they hit the chair's plastic surface. It was a miracle that they didn't break.

"How are you enjoying Dragon Hall?" Martin asked.

"Socially, I'm alright. But academically, I sailing around the Cs," Ruby said grimly.

"Eesh." Martin made a small uneasy face. "What have you been doing outside the Isle?"

"Stealing from banks and jewelry stores."

"That's it?"

Ruby pondered a bit. "OK, there may have a been a time when my mom and I tried to steal an Ancient Egyptian cat idol from a museum once."

"Didn't work out well?"

"It occurred during the Chinese New Year and we mistook the firecrackers outside for the police bursting onto the scene. We ended up accidently dropping the idol and causing it to break as we fled." Ruby's eyes wandered off and her teeth grimaced. Obviously, she didn't like to think about that scenario.

"My father and I stole a lot of mystical monkey idols when we were still out in Auradon," Martin said. "It happened very often that we'd lose them to the good guys."

"Let me guess: any mystical monkey idol that could help him become the Supreme Monkey King?" She waved her hands in the air as if she were saying ' _Bow to me, you worthless unbelievers!',_ while she said the last three words. Martin chuckled at her joke.

"And me the Monkey Prince," he added. "We have this sort of father-son directed business."

"Is it a monkey business?" Ruby blurted. Both of them realized the hilarity of those words and laughed at it, with Martin laughing out loud a monkey-like hoot similar to his father's.

Just as they heard the doorknob open, they stopped laughing and pretended that things were normal. Martin quickly grabbed one of the teacups filled with earl grey and slowly drank from it, despite the fact that the tea was now cold. Ruby, for her part, grabbed a nail file from her backpack and proceeded into sharpening her fake nails.

The door opened and in came Monkey Fist, his right hand carrying the phone while his left hand was busy rubbing his ear.

"I've contacted your mother, Rebecca. She is relieved that you aren't injured and grateful that we've treated your wounds. She's agreed to let us welcome you for breakfast before Bates drives you and my son to Dragon Hall," Monkey said. He tried to look positive but his hand was too busy rubbing his ear.

"Don't tell me." Ruby rolled her eyes. "My mom screamed through the phone."

"I think she broke my eardrum," Monkey Fist groaned. "Isn't she a little bit overprotective?"

"She grew up in the streets as an orphan. Can anyone blame her for being overprotective?"

"Foster systems in Auradon," Martin said as he shook his head. "They never make sense."

"Let's just go have breakfast, shall we?" Lord Monty Fiske suggested. Martin helped Ruby walk since her wounded leg made her limp as the Monkey Lord led them out of the infirmary room and through the castle.


	48. Jealousy

Chapter 48: Jealousy:

"I'm not doing it, Becky!" Sean snapped one more time as he slammed the door of his locker shut with a large bang.

"Everytime I ask you for something, you always say no!" Becky protested.

"Well why should I? You've got more magic than me! Do it yourself!" Sean and his sister were arguing so loudly that they nearly got the attention of every passing student. Headmaster Facilier then came in, along with Ingwer, who had just arrived at the scene.

"Abysses!" Facilier said, prompting Sean and Becky to shut up. The headmaster only referred to them with the plural version of their last name whenever the scenario was serious. "Explanation, now!"

"My brother doesn't want to be my partner for the inter-level education week," Becky said, pointing an accusing finger at Sean.

"Why, so you can just show off your magic skills and give me one of your my-big-brother-isn't-as-magical-as-I-am gloating?" Sean scoffed. "Pass."

Ingwer gave a disappointed look at Sean before turning to Becky: "If you want, Becky, I can be your partner for the inter-level education week."

Becky smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Ingwer. It's nice to see that at least my childhood baby-sitter actually bothers to help me out." She gave her brother a disdainful look before clutching her octopus-designed handbag and marching off.

"You'd be the world's worst example for brotherhood, Sean Abyss." Facilier shook his head in disappointment as he went back to his office.

"Sean, what is _wrong_ with you?" Ingwer demanded as she walked over to face Sean and stare into his silver eyes.

"What's wrong with _me_?" Sean scoffed as they walked down the hallway and up the spiral staircase together. "My problem is that my eight sisters and eight female cousins are surpassing me! We're basically 20 people in the family and my mom, Ursula, finds it embarrassing that I'm her oldest child, only son, and only one among her liter of kids unable to perform magic properly. I...I can't even create one dishwashing spell without accidently breaking a whole dish stack!" He broke onto his knees as soon as they reached the third floor. "I'm the son of a witch and I can't even use magic!"

"Sean, don't feel like that." Ingwer knelt down and gently tapped Sean on the back. She didn't like seeing him like this, feeling inferior and suppressed by his eight sisters. They weren't _mean_ , for all Ingwer knew: ever since she was ten, she had babysat all the daughters Ursula, and occasionally the eight daughters of Ursula's sister Morgana, even Becky, who was Ursula's second born daughter and a freshman at Dragon Hall. All the girls in the Abyss family adored her due to the way Ingwer treated them with sweetness, kind love, and some of her special homemade treats for whenever they behaved. Sure, most people would think that, as the daughter of the Candy Witch, Ingwer was raised to use her sweetness and treats to lure children into her hungry mouth. And yes, sometimes it happened when Ingwer used candy to get things her way and to purchase some of the unwanted children from the black market in order to help her mom cook meals for the family.

But when it came to babysitting? Never.

"Is everything all right?" Ingwer and Sean looked up and saw Fork and Jane in front of them. Since the Halloween Gala, the ice prince and the pirate captain's daughter had been dating, regardless of Jane's family dropping hints that they wanted an instant marriage.

They did make a cute couple, though, as Jane was holding arms with Fork in a cuddling way like she was looking forward to cuddling his cold mountain outfit.

"Sean is just..." Ingwer began.

"Suffering from inferiority complex?" Fork guessed.

"Pretty much," Sean pouted.

"Don't worry, Sean. It happens when some people lack...qualities that other people don't have," Jane tried to sound encouraging.

"Like what?" Sean asked coldly. Jane cringed and got closer to Fork, who held his girlfriend protectively.

"Sean, I know you're fussed over the idea of the inter-level education week..." he began.

"Did somebody mention inter-level week?" a voice cut in. The group turned to see Franz Schmidt, the Red Skull's son, marching in and gave rather dismayed looks. The new student had barely been here since Halloween and he was already an asshole. He bullied non-German freshmen, used brute force that got him into the school's jeerball team, and had self-arrogance concerning himself, his strength, and looks. Most kids had preferred Gabriel Legume as jerk jock to Franz, but Gabriel was in Auradon now.

About the inter-level week. Every semester after the midterms, Dragon Hall held a week were students were partnered with students from higher levels in order to get help from their 'elders' on how to improve in evil. Preferably, freshmen were partnered with sophomores and juniors with seniors, but it did happen when partnerships were made with the other two levels.

"What do you care about the inter-level week?" Sean asked as he got up.

"Well I am planning on asking Rebecca to be my partner," Franz chuckled. His hand went through his blonde hair. "After all, we are well acquainted."

"Ooooooooh," the four other kids said in unison as even more dismayed looks mixed with disgust and pity filled their faces. Apparently, the son of the Red Skull and the daughter of Catwoman knew one another from outside the Isle Of The Lost before 'goodie justice' sent them to this charming prison long enough to make it clear that Ruby, or her birth name being Rebecca, had no interest in being near the red-masked Nazi who tried to flirt with her almost every other Tuesday or Thursday. Crystal Maze had even told François Tremaine about Franz and Ruby's odd reunion during the Halloween Gala, which led to the next UNHOLY GAZETTE's headline: **NAZI CHASING CAT BURGLAR?**

"Maybe...she jumped off a window in order to avoid being your partner?" Jane suggested. Sean snickered at her throwing shade at Franz.

"LOL, but cats land on their feet, nerdy," Franz answered back drily. Fork let go of Jane and marched towards Franz. He held out his hands, summoning hazy snowflakes of ice magic.

"You...SO...DID...NOT...!" he began to threaten until Sharon Paon Lei and François Tremaine, who was writing on a notepad and followed by the Zeebub Twins, came up the stairs and onto the same level as the group.

"You're serious, Sharon?" François asked in disbelief.

"I'm not kidding, F.T," the peacock princess said as she adjusted her red peacock feathered barrette onto a lock of her silvery albino hair. "Right after Hannah met me at my tower around 6:30am for breakfast, we left to go purchase a taxi on Overlord Boulevard and we saw Ruby Kyle going with Martin Fiske in his jeep..."

" **WHAT?** " Franz's voice exploded so loud that everyone had to cover his or her ears as it erupted like a volcano.

" **LOWER YOUR VOICE A BIT, SCHMIDT, OR I SWEAR I'LL CAST A CURSE TO MAKE YOU PERMANENTLY MUTE!** " Penna De Mort was heard screaming from somewhere in the school.

"We'll make him shut up!" Ingwer shouted back before turning towards François and Sharon. "Sorry the Nazi broke your ears."

"Honey, _relax_ ," Sharon said with a smirk on her face. "I grew up listening to the lovely, yet loud, orchestra of ten hundred cannons. It's not one dumb, idiotic Nazi boy who's gonna make me deaf."

Speaking of the idiotic Nazi, Franz's fists grabbed Sharon's arms and threatened to shake her as he shouted at her face: "WHAT WAS IT ABOUT REBECCA AND MARTIN FISKE THAT YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT?" Quickly, Ingwer and Jane both covered the eyes of Sean and Fork respectively while François covered his, for what came up next was something that no man at Dragon Hall likes to watch _ever..._

Sharon's platinum tipped boot kicking Franz hard on the groin, causing him to yelp in pain and let her go in order to cover his injured groin. Lord Shen was like Franz, Ruby, Fork, Noir, and a few other descendants on the Isle Of The Lost: she lived in the mainland, Auradon, before her imprisonment, and thus knew how to defend herself. But of course, Sharon was like her father: sadistic, power-hungry, and having no trouble harming others if she felt threatened. When Lord Shen and his minions were resurrected in order to be sent to the Isle, they managed to flee into the wilderness, where Shen began to raise his army again and hatch an egg, which held his daughter. Together, they spread their villainy over the Northern Region of China, and daddy's little girl was the country's most feared assassin. Heck, she even tried to murder the descendants of China's greatest heroes. While she unlucky failed to murder Mulan's child, she was close to killing those of her father's archenemies living in the Valley Of Peace's Jade Palace. If Auradonian and Chinese militaries hadn't busted in and sent Sharon, her father, and their minions on the Isle, she could have easily killed the son of Po and Tigress.

And we're talking about the same Dragon Hall senior who sharpens the platinum tips of her boots everyday in order to be prepared.

"So, same question Franz asked, but minus the screaming?" Sean asked sheepishly after Ingwer removed his hands.

"Sure," Sharon said smugly. "So like I was telling F.T, Hannah and I were leaving my tower after she came at my place for breakfast until we reached this spot in Overlord Boulevard where we usually get a taxi to go to school. While we were waiting, we saw this jeep passing by and Hannah said: ' _Check it out, Sharon. Martin Fiske is on the way!'_

"You all know Martin Fiske, right? The primate-handed and footed son of Lord Monkey Fiske? He's also a senior and one of my classmates in General Evil Monarchy. Anyway, we see his jeep approaching and Hannah and I pretended to act like we didn't see them."

"Isn't that a technique you use almost all the time?" Jane frowned.

"It's an evil princess technique to show that she's selfish," Sharon shrugged before returning to her story. "So then the jeep stopped at the red light about two feet away from us. That's when Hannah and I saw the thing: Ruby Kyle sitting on the jeep's backseat _with Martin Fiske himself._ "

"No way!" Ingwer exclaimed.

"Yes way!" Belle and Levia said together before François gave them the 'shut up' look.

"I know, it's kinda big!" Sharon continued her story. "I mean, Hannah and I have always come to the same spot on Overlord Boulevard to get a taxi for school, and everytime the jeep comes with Martin Fiske sitting at the front next to his driving butler! But this time, he was sitting with Ruby Kyle in the back and they were laughing with one another as if they've been doing this forever!"

"Wait, what was Ruby doing in Overlord Boulevard anyway?" Sean frowned. "That's like part of the Northern District, and only rich people live there. Ruby, if we do the distance math, lives halfway across town in one of Supervile-village's ghettos. What was se doing in N.D in the morning?"

"Beats me, how should I know?" Sharon puffed as she began to walk away. "I just saw her in his jeep, that's all."

"Stupid...monkey boy," Franz muttered as he sat up, still rubbing his injured groin. "I...saw her first!"

"Ten bucks says that Ruby would prefer the British gentleman over the German hothead," Fork betted.

"He let her ride in his family's jeep." Jane gasped. "You think this is love?"

"He's half-monkey! He practically picks things up with his feet!" Franz protested.

"He's an expert in Tai Shing Pek Kwar," François commented as he jot down more notes.

"His minions are trained monkey ninjas!"

"He plays the harpsichord," Fork added. "Seriously, Sirenius wanted Martin to _tutor_ him in playing 'Knock Em Dead' on the harpsichord."

"He laughs like a monkey!"

"He's a fan of Earl Grey tea," Ingwer commented. "He and his dad always order Earl Grey tea leaves from my mom every Sunday."

" **GAAH!** " Franz groaned out loud as he marched away and stormed down the stairs. His face was flustering with red shades.

"I can see it now!" François exclaimed as he finished jotting down his notes. " **NAZI V.S MONKEY LORD. WHO WILL WIN THE FAIR MAIDEN?** " François snapped his fingers. "Belle, we're going to need to print out about 120 UNHOLY GAZETTE copies for this story, and make sure you reserve one to send to Auradon Prep for Charles Frollo by package."

"Aye, aye!" Belle said as she hopped away.

"Levia, be today's photographer! I want visual details for the story. Franz is obviously going to overload with jealousy. Any future duel competing for the lady's hand must be photographed!"

"Aye, aye!" Levia repeated her sister's previous action.

"This is going to be one epic article," François giggled as he ran away. " _Allons-y!_ "

Sean, Ingwer, Fork, and Jane were left until they all agreed that Franz's jealousy would take the best of him. So many villains were known for that. Hoping the best for Ruby, they headed for class.


	49. Gymnastics

Chapter 49: Gymnastics

"Well this is cruel," Fork commented as he and Sean stepped inside the gymnasium.

"Which part?" Sean asked. "The part where they build up a tough inter-level week schedule for any of the current partnerships and you and I are stuck with two hours of gym class today and this Thursday at 8am, which will cause us to be smelly and be stuck in the showers for hours? Or that the jeerleaders are darn lucky that they don't have to do any sport because they only 'cheer' and don't 'swear a sweat'?"

Fork stopped walking and gave a look at Sean. "Hum, let's see. How about... **HOW THEY MODIFIED THE GYMNASIUM? AGAIN?** "

He and Sean glanced at the gymnasium, which was one of those training halls that the Capitol had used for the Hunger Games tributes. No one knew how the heck the Dragon Hall staff managed to change the gymnasium almost every single month with different training rooms to teach the students fighting, defense, or survival skills, but they learned to never ask about how and why and just be glad that there was a gymnasium.

Which was hard to be glad about, since it was practically a training designed to train the students (no limitations to gender) to be ruthless, evil killing machines.

"I guess they overloaded it again," Sean shrugged.

"ABYSS! VINTER! BRING YOUR FROLICKING BUTTS OVER HERE!" a drill sergeant voice called out. OK, technically it was a Hun warrior voice and not a drill sergeant's, but it was enough to motivate Fork and Sean to rush towards the center of the gymnasium and line up with a few other students. They stood straight up as Kholtas, the Gymnastics teacher, made the roll call. Kholtas was one of those Hun women who fought in battles and led squads with iron fists. She always kept her hair in a short, army hairdo that always made you wonder if she ever had long hair. Kholtas' attire always consisted of Hun fur jumpsuits and running boots. Due to the long scar on her face, it was tough to laugh around her when you saw her eyebrows frown.

And to crown it all? She was Shan Yu's biological sister, making her the aunt of Haya Yu. There was no need to deny that you **do not** mess up with that bloodline.

"Kyle and Fiske are late!" Kholtas told the students. "Have any of you seen them?"

At the mention of Ruby and Martin Fiske, Sean and Fork quickly glanced at the right ide of the line, where Franz was standing next to his inter-level week partner, Madison Hatter. Judging by how he was grimacing, it was clear that Franz was still jealous about the idea of Ruby hanging out with Martin Fiske rather than him.

The doors opened and everyone saw Ruby Kyle and Martin Fiske rushing in, with Ruby walking very oddly. As they got closer, all the students gasped when they noticed the bandage around Ruby's right leg.

"What the heck, girl?" Turbolina Candy asked among the crowd of whispers.

"Shut your speed racing mouth of glitches, Candy!" Kholtas snapped before turning towards the two tardees. "Kyle, explanation to why your leg looks like it tangoed with a mountain during a rockslide?"

"And injured ribs," added Martin in a matter-of-factly tone. Kholtas gave him a suspicious look before poking a finger onto Ruby's stomach, causing the girl to give out a painful yelp.

"I recognize the pain coming from a poked cast out of nowhere," Kholtas said. "Kyle, have you been flirting with Mother Danger?"

"You mean getting into a sportbike crash and slammed onto a wall, both situations caused by a pythonaconda?" Ruby asked. Kids gasped in shock at the mention of the giant snake hybrid that served Penna De Mort.

"Great, she provoked Death itself," Sean whispered to Fork.

"How the heck did you get slammed by a pythonaconda?" Kholtas asked Ruby.

"I shot it a bullet."

"In her defense, it was for a good cause." Martin stood in Ruby's defense. "Long story short, she now has my family's full support."

"Daring Mother Danger, bringing jungle law by tempting De Mort's hissing minions, and seeking sponsorship from an aristocrat just to get needed aid?" Kholtas glared at Ruby one more time before bringing her closer and in front of the lined group of students. "People, take a better example of your peer Kyle here. This bad kitty knows how to make business faster than you can watch a _How I Met Your Devil_ episode every Sunday afternoon!"

Ruby and Martin quickly glanced at one another. Clearly, it was obvious that she didn't intend to be the center of attention, but the rule was simple in gym class or in any other class at Dragon Hall: you get individual praise from a teacher, you take it highly and to a higher level than the others. So Ruby said nothing.

"OK, slowpokes!" Kholtas got everyone's attention again. "I'll make this simple: your partnerships are based on the things each young member lacks. So older kids, you'll be helping your partners do better in a physical sport or activity they aren't doing well today. Might be the opposite Thursday."

"Wait, I thought the older kids were supposed to tutor us," Crimsonella Overkill spoke up.

"Life isn't fair, O.K. Now get moving!"

 _Later_

"C'mon, Fork!" Sean clapped his hands in encouragement while the ice prince struggled to lift a weightlifting stick carrying 30kg boulders on his shoulders. "Get started on the laps!"

"I curse myself for lacking upper body strength!" Fork muttered in between his teeth as he struggled to both weightlift and start running laps at the same time.

"Kinda surprising, judging by the stockiness of your muscles," Sean commented. He briefly poked one of Fork's bare biceps (Fork had removed his gym shirt in order to avoid increasing sweat). "Now let's get moving!"

Fork moaned in despair as he began to run steady, yet painful, laps around the room with Sean tailing him in order to clap his hands and encourage him to keep moving. As they did so, they passed around the other partnerships dealing with whatever they were doing: Turbolina Candy, the daughter of King Candy, was busy showing a freshman Hun on how to maintain proper speed and stamina while riding a 'practice kart'. Hannah South was having a hard time convincing Jack Rocket, the son of Jessie and James, to wield a sword in battle. There were a few Hun kids trying to show a couple pirate kids on how to fight on horseback using one of the dummy horses they occasionally for the school carnival's rodeo stands.

By the time Fork ran his third lap and collapsed onto the ground, he and Sean had reached the rock-climbing wall, where Franz was busy forcing and shouting at Madison, who was struggling to climb the wall. Apparently, rock-climbing wasn't one of his best abilities.

"Get a grip, Mad! You look like you broke a nail!" Franz shouted.

"I'm afraid of heights!" Madison complained.

"But you're hardly 3 feet off the floor," Fork pointed in between pants. Confused by what the son of the White Witch had just said, Madison quickly glanced bellow him, noticing that Fork was right. He sighed in relief and jumped back onto the main ground while Franz cursed something inappropriate in German, which has been censored for all readers.

"Fine! Let's take five!" Franz snapped. He brutally grabbed a bottle of water that stood nearby and began drinking it in less than a second.

"Someone's still looking red," Sean joked.

"Franz is still pissed that Ruby partnered up with Martin Fiske instead of him." Madison shook his head as he pulled out a teakettle and began pouring some tea into a cup and offered some to Sean, who didn't refuse.

"Maybe she's just doing it because she owes Martin one?" Sean suggested in between sips of tea. "After all, Martin and his dad Monkey Fist must have gone through a lot to actually help a _human_."

"Sharon did say that she and Hannah saw Martin and Ruby riding in his family's jeep from the Northern District on the way here," Fork added.

"She should have been with me," Franz snarled as he clutched the empty bottle in his hands. "I knew Rebecca far longer than anyone else has."

"Watch out, Franz," Sean warned. "Haven't you learned anything from villains like Frollo and Gaston? You madly crush on one girl and the next thing you know is that you die from falling off a tower. And that seems to have happened to like _all of them_."

"As long as you don't look down," Fork joked. Snickers from both Madison and Sean came him, which snapped Franz and provoked him to march away to the boys' locker room. As soon as Franz was out of sight, Fork lost his funny face. "OK, technically I meant the opposite of don't look down, because I don't think he would have kept himself together if he had looked up."

In order to answer their own confused faces, Madison and Sean lifted their heads up towards the ceiling, where the insane monkey bar system could be seen spreading all over it like a spider web instead of a 'branch system' for monkeys. Not too far away, Ruby could be seen trying to move around the twisted monkey bars with certain uneasiness.

"Isn't that a little bit risky for her ribs?" Sean asked in a concerned tone.

"Swinging was never one of Ruby's strengths," Madison admitted. "One time, she tried to escape from a ten-story building after robbing a vault by swinging onto the banners for a passing festival. Not the best idea she's ever demonstrated the first time Franz and I met her. Besides, Coach Kholtas felt like the monkey bars were the only sport she could do using three feet."

Just then, Ruby began to lose her grasp onto one of the bars and began to shake nervously as she clung on to one bar with her spare hand. Fortunately, Martin Fiske was hanging on the monkey bars as well, so while his feet kept him hanging, his hands caught Ruby and helped her back on the bars. Gratitude and uncertainty both appeared on her face as Martin guided her through the bars while giving her advice on maintaining balance throughout the way. Occasionally, her brown eyes would meet his shadow grey ones and it would take them about half a minute to realize that they should focus on their activity.

"Aw, how cute!" Fork sighed. "Martin and Ruby might be on the actual verge of getting the spark!"

"The spark?" Madison asked.

"Everlasting love for villains," Sean explained. "It can occur at any time in a villain's life: could be love at first sight, love at first punch, love at first note, or even childhood friendships that become romantic. Point being, when a villain gets the spark for another villain, it means that both of them will be bonded forever. Take Fork, for instance. The first time he met Jane Hook, he fell hard for her."

"When did you guys meet?" Madison asked.

"Back in 4th grade, a couple of weeks after my mother and I got thrown into the Isle Of The Lost," Fork said dreamily. "I'll never forget the cute little pirate girl who gave me a bag full of cookies during my welcome party. Stars were shining on her eyes."

"You mean her glasses?" Sean snorted.

"Shut up."

"As much as I personally agree with Fork that Martin and Ruby would make a cute couple, I highly doubt that Ruby's gonna risk stepping into another relationship," Madison said. His words quite surprised the other two.

"What do you mean?" Sean asked, confused.

"You mean you've never heard the story of how Ruby ended up being arrested?"

Before another word could be said, a high scream was heard coming from outside the gymnasium. Kids abruptly stopped their activities and gathered at the center of the gymnasium while Kholtas hushed them: "Silence! What is the meaning of this? Who screamed?"

"I don't know, ma'am," Turbolina Candy said, "but I could have sworn that it came from outside."

"HOLY SHIT!" Madison exclaimed in horror. "Franz was the last one to have left the gym!"

"Where did he go?" Kholtas asked.

"The locker room."

 _Half an hour later_

Students and teachers had abandoned their activities and gathered outside to see the Huns pull a stretcher carrying an unconscious Franz on it and into an ambulance. The son of the Red Skull was in a state worst than the previous three victims: his Dragon Hall gym shirt was ripped to shreds and he had blood all over his torso, especially over the area where his mark of villainy, a fist overshadowed by the HYDRA icon, laid. No need to mention that the mark had turned gray as well.

As soon as Madison stepped inside the ambulance in order to go with his friend as the latter was taken to Medea, the doors were shut and the vehicle left. Students and teachers had to go back to their previous activities while those who were Gymnastics had to finish sooner while some Huns, Headmaster Facilier, and Kholtas inspected the boys' locker room for clues concerning Franz aggressor, but nothing was found. It seemed like the place was clean and attack-free. No aggressor could be seen.

"This is not good," Facilier muttered after the Huns left.

"Fourth attack so far," Kholtas agreed. "In order, we've had the son of a mad, octopus scientist, a wicked witch, an evil ex-royal advisor, and now a Nazi. I don't see any link between those students, and the weirdest part is that each of them has gotten their mark of villainy losing colors."

"And to think that the Villains Comet is on the verge of approaching in two months. Whoever is doing this might be using our descendants for something much worse."

"I get that, but who and why?"

"I've got no idea, but as far as I know, the children we've sent to Auradon have been told by their peers of the attacks. Word must have reached the ears of King Benjamin, and he's declared that if more than half of the villainous descendants have been attacked before Christmas, then every villain will have to send their child to Auradon...forever."

"And the Council's gonna put up with this?"

"Depends on the Fates."


	50. Time For Laments And Rescues

Chapter 50: Time For Laments And Rescues

"I hurt him. I hurt everyone."

The words still pained Ruby like daggers through her flesh when she said them to the raven as it observed her while the two of them sat on a beam inside the Dragon Hall Clocktower.

The school's clocktower was the biggest tower in all of Dragon Hall and the biggest clocktower in the entire Isle Of The Lost. Some claimed that it had a mind of its own, since it both made the school bells ring whenever classes were in session and unleash thundering chimes to warn the villains on the Isle of what time it was. Another logical explanation was that the handles moved by themselves whenever it was daylight saving time. How this clocktower came to the Isle was always a mystery, but its ominous ticking and chiming reminded every villain of how time was precious and how they had wasted valuable time scheming evil only to be foiled by heroes.

Ruby was sitting on one of the beams that kept the ceiling from falling into the clocktower's mechanical system. While her back was overshadowed by the dark gears making awfully scary ticking noises that she didn't give a damn about, her eyes were looking at the sunlight coming through the clock made of broken stained glass (not stained glass like in churches but like unpolished glass), its shadowy handles moving slowly. Since the glass had some missing shards, ravens could easily fly in and out of the clocktower. Even the raven Ruby was talking to practically lived in the tower.

"I hurt everyone and yet I'm not sure if whether or not it's really my fault." Ruby's voice nearly broke as she spoke to the raven, who only ended up flying away. Most likely out of boredom.

Guilt had filled Ruby when she had seen Franz being taken away to the hospital, his body covered in blood. He wasn't dead and frankly she wasn't a big fan of his advances towards her, but Ruby felt like his accident was partially her fault even though she didn't know about it. And Franz was still one of the rare teens she knew from outside the Isle before her arrest. She didn't even volunteer to go join Madison to see if Franz would be alright. Franz was a fellow supervillain and she didn't even support him.

And what about the previous three victims? Ruby didn't know them fully, but she still felt guilty about their accidents. As far as she knew, it seemed like none of those accidents ever occurred before she came to the Isle. All of the victims had marks of villainy while she still hadn't received hers, which is quite late for a villainous child to obtain his or her mark. By doing the math, it would convict Ruby Kyle of the crimes, but she had done nothing nor got involved. So why was she still feeling guilty for something she hadn't committed? Maybe because of the terrible mistakes she made in the past?

Her right hand went through her pixie haircut, feeling each strand of hair barely reaching the back of her neck. Feeling her short haircut reminded Ruby of when she had grabbed a pair of scissors and destroyed her long hair, her career as the Shadow Seeker, and herself, when she learned that her mercenary ways had been exploited by certain authorities to capture criminals who haven't done anything to merit unfair imprisonment in the Isle Of The Lost.

Honestly, Ruby still had a hard time believing that she's walking in the same neighborhoods and going to the same school as the criminals she had unfairly wronged without her even knowing it. Franz, Madison, Martin...

Oh God, Martin...

 _ **Flashback: Jim Gordon's office, six months ago**_

' _Shadow Seeker, I presume?'_ Lieutenant Jim Gordon asked near the end of May, when Shadow Seeker had entered his office. By that time, Shadow Seeker had developed quite a reputation as a mercenary in less than a few months. As far as records knew, her identity was unknown even to the top-secret organizations and she easily made $1,000 in less than two days.

' _I received your business call. How may I use my services for you?'_ Shadow Seeker asked quietly. Gordon couldn't figure out who Shadow Seeker was, even though she wore a black toggle cape, leather gloves, dark pants, black running boots, and a black mask and goggles set that covered her entire face. The only thing unhidden by the costume was her long, flat brown hair flowing behind her back. Perhaps...

' _If my services involve you getting a lock of my hair for DNA sampling, I can leave right away.'_ Shadow Seeker had pulled out a gun from underneath her cape, pointing it at Gordon. Lesson learned by Gordon: never underestimate Shadow Seeker.

 _'They won't, believe me.'_ Gordon straightened his tie. ' _Your services are needed to help us retrieve a stolen item.'_ He handed her a paper as she put away her gun. She glanced at the paper and saw the picture of some sort of miniature idol depicting a meditating monkey being bothered by seven other monkeys climbing onto it. ' _This a Japanese monkey netsuke made of pure ivory; the "Happy Buddha of the Eight Monkeys", as they call it. The Jump City Museum Of Natural History recently lost it at the hands of Monkey Fist and we need your help to retrieve it.'_

 _'And what's your definition of 'retrieving'?'_ Shadow Seeker asked skeptically. ' _Just sneaking into Monkey Fist's house, grab the statue, leave, and return it to the museum?'_

 _'That along with an advanced payment of $10,000 as persuasion.'_ Jim Gordon pulled out a suitcase, placed it on the desk, and opened it, revealing to Shadow Seeker the stacks of lovely green dollar bills.

She didn't refuse the offer.

 _ **End of flashback**_

"I should have refused the money," Ruby facepalmed herself as the clock kept ticking. "I should have walked away...DAMN IT!"

Ruby shouldn't have leaned forward so much when she said those words, for she ended up leaning off the beam and beginning to fall down to certain doom. Time was ticking.

Her eyes nearly closed, preparing for doom, until she felt some kind of force grabbing her, saving her from doom, and bringing her safely onto the wooden floor.

"You really have this record for tempting death," a voice commented. Ruby's head turned to see Martin Fiske's shadow grey eyes stare at her as he held her. She blushed in embarrassment.

"Sorry," she said. "Guess I'm still shocked from what happened with Franz."

"Shocked to the point where you miss study hall and hide in the school clocktower?" Martin gently let go of her so that she could stand up on her feet normally. "Wouldn't it have been more conventional if you were hiding in, oh I don't know, the ladies' room?"

"I'm not comfortable being in occupied spaces like the ladies' room whenever I want to lament. So yeah, the creepy clocktower was my best option."

Martin looked up at the beam from which Ruby had fallen. "How the heck did you get all the way there?" he asked curiously. To answer his question, Ruby held out her hands, most specifically her fake fingernails. Martin touched her right index's fingernail with one of his clawed fingers and felt metal texture on his skin.

"Adamantium," he said quietly. "A very rare African metal that is indestructible. Costs a lot of money in the Isle Of The Lost black market...and quite an odd fashion trend for nails."

"I knew a scientist back in Gotham who gave me a special adamantium surgery if I gave him a large amount of money." Ruby wiggled her fingers, causing her fingernails to actually make metallic scratching noises. "I had to vandalize an entire bank and a billionaire's vault to pay up for it."

Martin whistled. "And to think my father spent his family fortune on radical genetic mutations just to get hands and feet like these." He motioned his monkey hands and feet. Many have found such characteristics creepy, especially since Martin had claws while Monkey Fist didn't.

Ruby let out a small grin before wincing in pain. Her rib cage and leg weren't feeling great, most notably the leg.

"You tried to push yourself up using both legs when you climbed up towards that beam, didn't you?" Martin asked seriously.

"I did," Ruby sighed in guilt. Then, without any notification, Martin lifted her up in his arms bridal style and began walking towards the staircase that led out of the clocktower. As he did so, Ruby tried to ignore those odd, warm shivers that she was getting from Martin's touch. His black-and-red martial arts uniform felt warm against her skin and her eyes couldn't ignore the large, red Chinese characters spelling 'monkey' on his shirt. "You're never gonna stop being a gentleman, are you?" she asked.

"I'm British, what did you expect?" Martin smirked. "And how about you? When are you going to start landing on your feet like any bad kitty?"

Ruby laughed at his joke and pretended to be offended. "Is that a reference to my near-death experience and my injured leg?"

"Maybe," Martin grinned.

"Ok, let me guess. You want payback from me acting like a damsel in distress..."

"While you're a tough tigress? Yes."

"OK. Name your price."

Martin smirked before asking her: "You wouldn't happen to know how to play mini-golf, do you?"


	51. The World's Second Deadliest Golfer

Chapter 51: The World's Second Deadliest Golfer

Many residents on the Isle Of The Lost kept saying that if this weren't an island prison meant for villains solely, then the place would have been recognized for hosting the biggest mini golf course in the world. It was about 324 meters long and wide that you could have easily laid the Eiffel Tower flat in it. All the holes were placed within diverse obstacles, which went from simple ones like flat green surfaces and menhir circles to unimaginable ones like piranha-invested lagoons, leg-hold trap filled fields, and missiles that went off whenever the ball went into the hole.

Despite how crazy and dangerous this mini golf course was, villains didn't mind spending their afternoons hanging out there with their family and friends just for the sake of having fun.

The owner of the mini golf course, Duff Killigan, the 'World's Deadliest Golfer', certainly enjoyed running and playing the place, and if there's one thing he definetly enjoyed more than anything else, it was to organize afternoon mini golf parties where anyone could come and play, and since the entries were free, who could resist?

"Wow, this area is packed," Ruby commented as she and Martin walked through the crowd of villains. Like most of the other wicked teens, they were wearing the Dragon Hall golfing uniform, which usually consisted of plaid T-shirts with the school's logo, shorts, long socks, sneakers, and hats to protect them from the sun. Of course, depending on the students, the uniforms were diverse. For instance, Ruby's was mostly purple-and-beige colored with cat motifs while Martin's was red-and-black with the Chinese characters of 'monkey' on his hat and didn't include shoes due to his simian feet.

"Yeah. I heard Buffy is holding the party today," Martin said. They went to grab some golf clubs at the welcoming table.

"Buffy Killigan?" Ruby had nearly forgotten that Duff Killigan, the owner of the Killigan Mini Golf, was the father of Buffy Killigan, a sophomore student at Dragon.

"Of course. Our fathers are old acquaintances and Buffy and I have been friends since Father and I came to the Isle."

"The Killigans didn't live out in Auradon like you and some of the others?"

"Sadly, no. Duff was instantly thrown into the Isle by Team Possible once the Isle Of The Lost had its grand opening." A hint of disgust was heard in Martin's voice. Obviously, he grew to loathe even the mere mention of Team Possible since he was born, and as far as Ruby managed to conclude since she began hanging out with Martin, **never EVER** talk about Ron Stoppable and naked mole rats. "Haven't you met Buffy yet?"

"Uh...let's just say I met her during one of the Haggis Days at Dragon Hall," Ruby answered. This was probably one of the weirdest things she ever did ever since she came to the Isle: Dragon Hall had this ghastly obligation (courtesy of Auradon) to do Mystery Meat Wednesdays, which is a reason why all the students leave the school at lunchtime on Wednesdays in order to get food from town. Headmaster Facilier and Gollum, the Cruella-teria's disturbing 'male lunch lady' (as every student called him), grew sick of students skipping lunch every Wednesday, so they concocted a plan with one of the students in order to make sure that no one left the school grounds on Wednesday: if students and even the faculty left, they would be forced to eat the nightmare of all the culinary artists in the world: an entire pot full of the Killigan haggis, cooked by Buffy Killigan herself. And the haggis was **just** as bad as Mystery Meat.

Conclusion overall: every teen on the Isle Of The Lost, except for Buffy, hated Wednesdays. As for Buffy, she found delight in 'sharing' her family's haggis recipe with anyone. And as for Ruby, there came a day last month when Proserpine dared her to willingly eat Buffy's haggis and spit it on the latter's face. Loser had to pay an entire week of dinner at Legume Tavern for the other. Not only did Ruby accept the challenge, but she even swallowed **the entire pot's haggis** and drank an entire bottle of spicy sauce before doing a humongous spit take on Buffy Killigan. Buffy ended up with her haggis covered face on the UNHOLY GAZETTE, Ruby with an extra credit for 'surprising humiliation', and Proserpine spending her entire weekly allowance for Ruby's dinners at Legume Tavern.

"The haggis-spitting scenario?" Martin tried to cover a small monkeyish laughter to no avail. "My father and I laughed about it for days! Honestly, Duff felt like Buffy had humiliated him more than the insults about him being a girl!"

Ruby chuckled at Martin's remark. It was true that, even on the Isle, it was still a running gag for villains to mistake Duff for a woman thanks to his kilt.

"Gather round, everyone!" a thick, Scottish accent spoke over the crowd. Everyone turned to look at the green mini stage where Duff Killigan himself spoke through a megaphone while his daughter, Buffy Killigan, stood next to him. Unlike the other teens, Buffy did not wear some sort of Dragon Hall golf uniform: instead, she wore a more exposing version of her dad's suit, including a red-and-green mini kilt, a white blouse crop top covered by, a short-sleeved blue mini jean jacket, black gloves, white stockings that reached her knees, Mary Jane shoes, and a hat like her father's. Her light brown hair with orange streaks was pulled back in a long ponytail, leaving bangs to cover her forehead. For some reason, she wore the golf balls from the first game she won as earrings.

"We, the world's deadliest golfers, are happy to invite ye all to this mini golf course party hosted by me lassie Buffy," Killigan said as he motioned his daughter, who waved at the crowd. "We hope ye play your best, because the ten players with the lowest scores will have to eat..."

Then came the nightmare: Buffy walked offstage to something covered with a red cloth standing next to the stage: the world's largest cooking pot with horrible, familiar gas coming out of it.

"The Behemoth Killigan Haggis Pot!" Buffy told the crowd, who gave cries of horror and disgust.

"This is it..." Napoleon Moriarty, who happened to be standing in front of Ruby and Martin, groaned. "It's bad enough that Buffy uses haggis to destroy our chances to avoid Mystery Meat Wednesdays, but now she uses it to prompt mini golf players to win?"

"I'd go with cash instead," Ruby said. "But I'm quite certain that everyone will play their best in order to avoid getting the haggis inside their stomachs..."

 _Later_

Although the risk of eating Killigan haggis and ruining your reputation was at stake, almost everyone had a good time playing mini golf. Ruby herself had fun: she only did mini golfing once in a while back in Gotham (her mother had tried to give her daughter some fun experiences by sneaking into the mini golf course at night to play) and she still had the hang of it. Thanks to her small knowledge of mini golfing, she barely managed to make it among the top 30 players with the highest scores.

While the crowd was waiting for the ten losers to face the horrible Behemoth Killigan Haggis Pot, Ruby and Martin were sitting at a bench near Hole #13, which was mostly made out of a horseshoe-shaped lagoon infested with piranha and electric eels.

"How on earth do the Killigans manage to pay for such crazy golfing supplies?" Ruby asked as she drank sips of her root beer soda.

"Beats me." Martin shrugged as he wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his left hand.

"Well, positively speaking, we avoided the haggis." A look of 'Thank God!' was shared between the two until Buffy Killigan came passing by and noticed them.

"Mart. It's been a while," Buffy greeted Martin Fiske. "How's it going?"

"Well judging by the fact that we go to the same school and that I occasionally come mini golfing here, how can you not tell?" Martin arched an eyebrow. Buffy merely shrugged as if she heard it before until her eyes darted at Ruby and instantly recognized her as the girl who spit her haggis onto Buffy.

"Kyle," Buffy greeted in a dry tone as if her tongue went through a dry cleaner.

"Buff," Ruby greeted back at Buffy, whose face flushed at the nickname. "It's been a while."

Martin had to cover his mouth in order to prevent bystanders from hearing his high-pitched monkey chuckles. Obviously he found it amusing how Ruby was imitating the World's Second Deadliest Golfer just for the sake of irritating her. Now he understood the meaning of 'copycat'.

Buffy noticed Martin suppressing his chuckles. Her irritation dissolved when she began to look at both Ruby and Martin with a confused look. "Are you two dating?" she asked. This, on the contrary, shocked both Martin and Ruby: the former's eyebrows arched at the mention of the mere idea and the latter inadvertently spat her root beer onto Buffy.

"We're not dating!" Ruby exclaimed, nearly getting the attention of a dozen bystanders. "We barely met this morning!"

"And I see you barely spared me kilt from your spits...again," Buffy grumbled as she walked away to change her kilt and could be heard mumbling to herself in Scots' Gaelic. Meanwhile, Ruby covered her mouth in embarrassment as she realized that nearly shouting out loud that she and Martin weren't an item was not a good idea. Especially in front of Martin. _God damn it, why is everything so hard with boys?_ She mentally cursed to herself.

"Are you alright, Ruby?" A now concerned Martin got up from the bench. "You're beginning to look red."

"Yeah...uh," Ruby stammered, trying to find some excuse. "Will you look at the time? I just realized that my mom will most likely intensify my death penalty if I don't go back home soon. Bye!" Ruby tried to rush away as fast as she could, but her limping leg just made it easier for Martin to catch up to her and grab her arm in order to keep her from going any further.

"And risk injuring your leg even more?" He gave her a suspicious frown. "You seriously have this thing for speeding up your death."

"Well you certainly have this thing for being a gentleman 24/7," Ruby commented in a similar tone.

"Eh. It runs in the family." He shrugged as he guided her through the crowd. "Looks like we should go in case you want to avoid Buff coming back at you with haggis as revenge...Tough Tigress."

Ruby started blushing when Martin called her 'Tough Tigress' the same way he did back at the clocktower. "Is this going to be one of those gentlemanly pet names?" she asked.

"Trust me. I'm just warming up."


	52. Hunted

Chapter 52: Hunted

"This is bad," Ingwer barely gasped in horror.

Bad wasn't enough to describe what everyone was seeing. It had been barely been three days since Franz Schmitz got attacked last Monday, making him the fourth victim in a row, and now, in less than a day, nineteen students at Dragon Hall were currently being taken into ambulances.

"8am," Ingwer said. "Adele Hitler and Gelyk Amon were found in a pool of blood right in front of their lockers." She said this while watching Hitler's daughter and Amon's son being taken away in an ambulance straight to Medea's Hospital.

"9am." Forkjølelse cupped his mouth in order to hold back a sob. "Napoleon Moriarty and Harold Frost got attacked after a mysterious blackout in Spiritual Villainy class. This really upset him, for the son of Professor Moriarty and the Bloody Countess and the son of Jack Frost were Fork's closest best friends.

"10:30am," Proserpine joined in. "Dìà Nàthòs, Kàly Àstèrìa, Crystàl Màzè, ànd Jèzèbèl Ràspùtìn wèrè fòund ìn thè gìrls' bàthròòm."

"11:45am. My sister Becky and almost the entire jeerleading squad were discovered," Sean said. His voice was full of guilt when he mentioned his sister being part of the victims currently being transported to the hospital. "Now I regret having yelled at her last Monday about being her partner for the inter-level week."

"Why on earth does this keep happening?" Ingwer asked as the last ambulance was seen leaving the school. "If I'm not mistaken, this now makes **23** students getting attacked in barely two weeks."

"Ànd thè mòst surprìsìng pàrt?" Proserpine added. "Dìà and Kàly wèrè àttàckèd ànd thèy'rè mìnòr gòddèssès. Mìnòr gòddèssès, fòr cryìng òut lòud!" The point she made just proved how much fear was beginning to develop in Dragon Hall: Dia Nathos, the daughter of the evil god Anathos, and Kaly Astéria, daughter of the immortal Kalandre, were minor goddesses who transferred a couple years ago to the Isle of The Lost from Tartarus, the evil gods' own prison, since they weren't powerful enough to be kept in such a prison. They were close friends of Proserpine, her being both the demigod daughter of Hades and a spiritual voodoo priestess, and the fact that even minor deities had fallen prey to such assaults had made quite an impact.

"Attention, students!" Headmaster Facilier spoke through the megaphone. "Dragon Hall's student body is experiencing unusual assaults for uncertain reasons, and no, this does not mean that classes are over. To ensure and enforce the safety and reputation of our school, students will be supervised by faculty members at all-times. At least one chaperone will be placed in each hallway, classroom, the Cruella-teria, the gymnasium, the jeerball field, in front of each bathroom, and at every field trip."

"Oh, so we're basically stuck in a prison within a prison?" Stiff Tannen retorted from somewhere among the crowd of students gathered in the hallways.

"Dude, get real!" Mystère shouted. "We're being hunted here!"

"Get real yourself, blue boy!"

Next thing you knew, students began to argue one against the other on who would live, who wouldn't, who would be hunted, etc. Teachers were struggling to restrain students on the verge of brutally beating up some other students.

"This is a nightmare," Fork said while he, Proserpine, Ingwer, and Sean were standing on one of the spiral staircase's upper levels in order to watch and avoid the conflicts occurring on the main floor. "Whoever is causing this could take the advantage to strike at any moment with everyone conflicting against one another."

The son of Jadis the White Witch had unfortunately made a strong point: with so many arguments going on among the students and the teachers trying to restrain them like wild animals being dragged in cages, the culprit could be waltzing down the halls, trying to find the perfect next victim.

"Will you look at that, Jessie." The group turned to see Penna De Mort showing Jessie Joker the crowd of chaotic descendants. Penna watched the crowd with a rather disturbingly amused smile the same way a dreadful circus clown laughed manically. "Villains fighting against villains. What better way to enjoy a Thursday afternoon!"

"Yòu knòw, fòr sòmèònè às èvìl às yòu àrè, yòu dòn't sèèm vèry wòrrìèd àbòut thè àttàcks," Proserpine coldly remarked. The purple-skinned demon turned to confront the group with her bluish eyes full of venom and cold emitted by a stone heart.

"Is there an issue with me enjoying other's sufferings?" The way she asked this so calmly was so disturbing indeed. It almost sounded as if she was eager to hear them say something they might regret, only for her to strike at them like a python attacking a helpless mouse.

"Gee, I don't know." Sean pretended to think. "Maybe because we're wondering how come you're not freaking out about the idea of being a future victim?" His response made Jessie Joker give a nasty scoff.

"Puh-lease! You're talking to Voldemort's daughter here!" She referred to Penna like a goddess. The latter certainly liked the respect she was getting from her lackey. "If Maleficent herself was afraid to lift her pinkie in front of Penna, than what does Penna have to fear from some psycho attacking teenagers?"

"Let's go, Jessie," Penna said smugly, ushering her friend to follow her up the stairs. "They obviously can't understand what it's like to be evil incarnate like me."

"Ugh!" Sean grunted as soon as the duo was out of sight. "More like a egoistic pain in the neck! Honestly, if I had to pick between an entire high school year with her lurking around or having my mom doom me to dishwashing duty using only my bare hands, no tentacles, and no magic- which I can't even master, I'd pick the dishwashing!"

"That would be the first time I hear you wish for one of those horrible chores you claim Ursula gives you daily." Ingwer frowned and crossed her arms in impressment.

"Trust me on this one, Ingwer," Fork sided with Sean as the group went downstairs when it seemed like the chaos soothed. "I've seen the horrors Sean gets inflicted with from Ursula's chores..."

He got cut off when an alarm was suddenly heard. Every student froze while teachers and the rest of the staff took their positions.

"What's going on?" Headmaster Facilier demanded.

"It's Sirenius Dazzle!" Carlos Raditz, the son of Raditz, came rushing into the scene. "He got attacked!"

"Oh, so that's what the siren's for," Ingwer realized.

"Àt lèàst thèy gòt thàt còvèrèd," Proserpine replied sarcastically while Professor Adagio Dazzle rushed to ask Carlos Raditz if her son was harmed.

"Don't worry, he actually survived." His reply made the Siren Music teacher sigh in relief. "He used his siren scream to protect himself. Unfortunately, whoever tried to attack him tried to run away..."

"Where's the attacker right now?" Facilier asked.

"The last time I saw him or her, he or she was being hunted by Ruby Kyle in the South sector of Dragon Hall..."

 _At the South Sector_

The door of General Evil Monarchy class shattered as Ruby roughly pushed the attacker through it. Whoever the attacker was, he or she was giving Ruby a tough fight. Punches were given on the face, sides got hit, the window got smashed, leaving glass shards on the floor in positions were they could cut the two conflicting beings.

Finally, the attacker managed to pin her down by the arms and was now threatening her neck with a jagged dagger. Deep within, Ruby's soul screamed to not give up. Whoever the aggressor was and why ever he was doing it, he or she had attacked innocent kids at Dragon Hall. Some were her enemies, some were people she hardly knew, and some were her friends. The aggressor had even attacked Crystal, Jareth's daughter, and one of Ruby's closest friends ever since she came to the Isle.

"I...can't...give up," she told herself as the blade got closer.

' _Rebecca Kyle, for your mercenary crimes and your relations to villainy by blood and alliances, you are sentenced to a lifelong imprisonment on the Isle Of The Lost,_ ' the judge said in her head.

' _You need to be careful whenever you use those adamantium nails,_ ' the scientist who gave her adamantium surgery joined in. ' _They may affect your body's metabolism depending on how you use them._ '

' _To think that the Shadow Seeker was so easy to be toyed with,_ ' Jim Gordon mocked her head. ' _I mean, she thought she was merely fetching a stolen monkey idol from Monkey Fist and his bastard son, but she was only a pawn to lead us to those criminals capture. Not to mention that, by stealing their actual property, she just increased her criminal record.'_

"GAAAAAH!" Ruby yelled, not realizing that her right hand went straight inside the aggressor's chest and her nails were burying deep inside the skin. She kicked the body off her, leaving blood on her hand and adamantium nails. Heavy, yet unstable breaths came out of her mouth as she struggled to get on her feet and see the horror that lay in front of her. She didn't even hear the sounds of footsteps approaching, for her dizzy head was making her lose consciousness.

Ruby Kyle had just killed a person.


	53. Crushed

Chapter 53: Crushed

There was darkness surrounding Ruby...dreadful darkness that seemed to last forever. Thankfully, she heard the familiar beeping that she often heard in hospitals.

"...And the adamantium in her nails is connected to her brain by state-of-the-art nanotech wires that flow straight within the veins of her arms," she heard a voice say.

"What kind of impact would it have on her health?" another voice, only deeper, asked.

"Well...it's _pure_ adamantium that we're talking about here. You only find it by digging really deep, where pulling it off the roots just makes it harder. The adamantium from her nails is probably attaching itself to her body and consuming it like a parasite. If she uses too much of her energy and her nails too often, such for self-defense when she murdered Dragon Hall's latest attacker, it will quickly consume her energy and she might die."

"And if we try removing them from her?"

"That will only speed up her death."

Ruby jerked herself up from the clinic bed. Not because of the mention that the adamantium might kill her. She knew that already. No, she got up screaming because of the mention of her last crime.

"Ms. Kyle, calm down!" a dark-haired woman in a lab coat put her hands on Ruby's shoulders in order to keep her down, but Ruby managed to push her off.

"I killed a person!" Ruby screamed. "I killed a person!"

"Ms. Kyle, keep yourself together! If you keep losing control of yourself, you'll get a heart attack!"

"I don't care if I get a heart attack! I just killed a person!" She kept shaking until she felt a large hand on her right shoulder and looked up to see a Hun wearing a combination of a Hun warrior's outfit and a sheriff's uniform. Judging by his Asian mustache, his baldhead, and his golden hawk eyes, she knew instantly that she was facing the Isle's sheriff, Shan Yu.

"You are not in trouble, Ms. Kyle," Shan Yu said using the deep, calm voice she had heard earlier. "You were just taken to the hospital to make sure that you were not injured from the fight with the attacker. There will be no prosecution for you defending yourself through killing. Think instead of the number of students you managed to spare from getting a fate similar to the last nineteen patients Doctor Medea has had lately."

"I also took the privilege of using magic to heal your injured leg and ribs," the woman (who turned out to be Medea) said. "Those that you had since Monday. I could tell by the age of the bandage and cast."

Ruby looked at the two of them. She put her hands in front of her nose and took a deep breath before getting off the clinic bed. The dim, flickering lights of the ceiling lamp gave the room's pale green walls a creepy aura just like in the horror movies that Ruby had dared to see by sneaking into the Gotham movie theater. Ruby's eyes briefly went downward to see that she was in a patient's robe. Her previous clothes must have been removed.

"In case you're wondering where your old clothes are, they are being cleaned and fixed. They were quite damaged after your...current fight," Doctor Medea said. Ruby only nodded.

 _Later on_

The waiting room had barely a few people waiting for treatments or reports from doctors concerning certain patients. Each wall was painted in a green color much paler than the one used for the clinic room Ruby had recently come out of. The only decorations in the room other than the dull gray waiting chairs was a stained metal table full of newspapers and magazines, a pot with a mini baobab tree so withered it could crumble at any time, and a poster of a doctor holding a crying baby with the words 'EVEN DISEASES NEED ATTENTION!' screaming out of the infant's mouth in tar black color.

Ruby sat in one of the chairs. The grey woolen sweater and pants that Doctor Medea had provided were itching her skin, but Ruby crossed off the idea of scratching herself; that was probably one of the advantages of having adamantium nails: they spared her of nasty habits like scratching, biting nails, or picking your nose.

A door was heard opening, much to Ruby's indifference. She still couldn't believe that she just killed a person. A _living_ person. If it had been a chicken, Ruby wouldn't have minded. The same would have applied to the dead fish she occasionally was forced to eat from the dumpsters back in Gotham. But killing a living person? She never believed herself to be capable of such a monstrous thing.

"RUBY!"

A familiar voice made Ruby turn her head to see Noir rushing in to give her a hug. "Oh, Ruby! Thank goodness you're not hurt!" Noir checked Ruby. "Did the attacker do anything horrible to you?"

"What's the worst he could have done?" Mystère had also come in. "That attacker tried to get marks of villainy from Dragon Hall. He couldn't have done it to you, since you don't have one...yet."

"Ruby? Is everything alright?" Noir noticed her friend's silence.

"Noir, I just killed a person." Her hazel eyes met her alien friend's purple ones while the latter and the blue mutant said nothing for the next few seconds.

"You killed once, Rubes," Mystère said reassuringly as he put a hand on her shoulder. "It doesn't mean you'll have to do it again. Just...try to forget about it and move on."

"Forgetting past crimes isn't an easy thing for me, Mystère." Ruby looked down at her black flats.

The door opened and in came Shan Yu, trying to calmly talk to a woman walking into the room angrily, nearly making everybody else back off. The woman wore a black-and-grey apron dress with many sewn patches on it, dirty brown desert boots, and a purple headscarf that only revealed her dark brown bangs. Her Caucasian skin was dirty from numerous hours of work and her hazel eyes were aiming at Ruby's with such anger as she walked towards the teenagers.

"Mom, I can explain..." Ruby began as she got in a frenzy, only to meet Catwoman's hand on her cheek, pain striking her skin and her body falling on the ground.

"Is this another one of your daily failures?" Catwoman shouted angrily at her daughter. "Getting stuck on the Isle because of you is one thing, but _murdering a person_ _ **ON SCHOOL GROUNDS!**_ "

"Ms. Kyle, it was an accident!" Noir defended Ruby while Mystère was helping her get up.

"Everything's an accident with my daughter!" Catwoman raised her hands in the air. "Robbing a bank or jewelry store without double checking the security is an accident! Running away from home for almost a year until her mischief finally got her arrested was an accident! Getting me to go with her here to make sure that she doesn't get in trouble was an accident! Penna De Mort threatening to kill her if she shoots at another one of her pythonacondas was an accident! Lord Monkey Fist calling me to inform me of Ruby being in his house and getting medical aid after a motorbike accident was another accident!" She grabbed her daughter by the collar in order to force her into mother-to-daughter eye contact. "You keep bringing accidents to my life all the time, I wonder why I didn't leave you to foster system when I still had the chance back in Gotham!"

"MS. KYLE, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Shan Yu said sternly. His rough hands tried to pull Catwoman away from her daughter.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT I'M HERE!" Catwoman shouted at Ruby. "YOU'RE JUST LIKE YOUR FATHER, RUINING MY LIFE!"

"Stop it! You're scaring Ruby!" Noir said angrily. She was right, for Ruby was shaking enormously on the outside and filled with trauma on the inside the same way she did when she felt the jagged dagger getting closer to her neck. Pulses went through her veins, and the next thing she knew, she was screaming: 'LET ME GO!' and swashing her right hand onto Catwoman's face. The latter let go of Ruby in order to cover the bloody cuts on her cheek while the former realized in horror what she just did.

Ruby Kyle had just injured her mother.

Horrified, Ruby ran towards the door, through the hallways, out of the hospital, through town, and into the outskirts of the city, ignoring the calls of her friends, the people she shoved out of the way, the tiredness in her legs, and the sorrow of her heart. All she could listen to now was the guilt and horror of her mind, reminding her that she harmed two people in less than a day. A sudden pain in her arms caused her to grab them and lose her balance, inadvertently making her fall into the Tarrian River.

 _Meanwhile_

"Are they gone?" Martin asked in a terrified voice. He and Gilliard Moss, son of Gil Moss, were hiding in a shrub by the Tarrian River. They hoped that the river's dreadful stench and the shrub's poison oak neighbor would keep them well hidden for now.

"CUDDLE MONKEY! WHERE ARE YOU?" a sugary voice asked. Martin nearly let out a scream until Gilliard covered the monkey boy's mouth with one of his fish-man mutant hands and gave him a glare with one of his fish red eyes asking him: ' _Does this answer your question?_ ' They heard approaching footsteps and froze; DNAmy and her daughter Amelia were getting near.

"Mommy, where's my Cuddle Monkey?" Amelia asked her mother while hugging her huge otterfly plush. Like mother like daughter, the crazy genetist and her fourteen-year-old daughter were overly pink, sugary, Cuddle Buddy obsessed, and madly in love with the Fiskes.

"Oh, don't worry, my little Amelia Magnolia," DNAmy said as she playfully pinched her daughter's cheek, unaware that two hidden boys were sticking out their tongues in disgust. "Soon we'll both have our Cuddle Monkeys, and we'll bring them home with us, where we'll lavish them with hugs and kisses..."

"Will we also have a pink wedding?" Amelia asked eagerly.

"Of course!"

"Help me," mouthed Martin to Gilliard.

Just then, something black and icky came out of the Tarrian River, causing DNAmy and her daughter to scream loudly.

"The Creature of the Tarrian River!" Amelia screamed.

"Run for your lives!" her mother screamed. Next thing Martin and Gilliard knew, the pink-infested villains were running away like the mental little girls they were.

"That was close!" Martin sighed in relief as he and Gilliard got out of the shrub. "Man, I wish villainy didn't occasionally run in the family. Why in Hanuman's name does Amelia need to crush on me the same way her mother, DNAmy, was crushing on Martin's father, Lord Monkey Fist.

"Golly my gills, what is _that_?" Gilliard gasped. He pointed towards the 'Creature of the Tarrian River' that scared away Amelia and her mother out of their wits. The thing looked like it was on its knees from exhaustion. It didn't seem to fight back or even take a menacing pose to scare off the boys, so Gilliard and Martin took a few steps towards the creature as the tar leaked down its body, revealing a feminine figure. Martin frowned at the sight of the creature until he noticed something shining on the creature's feminine fingers: very sharp, claw designed metal fingers. Adamantium nails, to be precise.

"Ruby?" Martin asked the creature, who lifted its head and revealed the familiar hazel eyes of the tough tigress Martin appreciated.

"Good Heavens, Ruby! What happened?" Martin rushed towards Ruby, who said nothing as he bent down and used his monkey hands to rub the tar of the girl's face. "Why are you covered in tar?"

"I fell in the river," Ruby whimpered. "Not a great place to swim."

"Not for your species, that's for sure," Gilliard said. "This river is nastier than Lake Wannaweep and I enjoy swimming there."

"Shut up, Gilliard!" Martin snapped before going back to Ruby. "Ruby, why the hell are you even here? Shouldn't you be back in Dragon Hall?"

"Funny, I'd ask you the same thing. I haven't seen you all day!"

Martin gave an amused frown. "You missed me _that_ much?"

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Dream on, Monkey Boy."

Gilliard chuckled: "That's the girl you paired up with for inter-level week, Mart? Gee, you _have_ been busy."

"Gilliard..." Martin's voice threatened until he noticed something missing in Ruby. "Uh...Ruby, where are the rib cast and leg bandage that my father put on you?"

"I...kind of woke up without them at Medea's Hospital..." Ruby began.

"Woah, back up!" Gilliard made the 'time-out' symbol with his hands. "What were you doing at the hospital? Was there another attack at Dragon Hall? Was your mark of villainy taken from you?"

"Long story, yes, as a matter of fact, there were nineteen attacks, and no I didn't get my mark removed because I don't have one...yet," Ruby said.

"Care to explain?" Martin asked.

Ruby told them the whole story, including every single detail from the nineteen students who got attacked, the failed attempt of the aggressor to obtain Sirenius Dazzle's mark, Ruby accidently killing the attacker with her claws while tackling him, waking up at the hospital to find Medea and Shan Yu to tell her that she wasn't in trouble, Medea also using magic to cure her old wounds, her friends Noir and Mystère coming to the hospital to check on her, Catwoman going mad towards her daughter and causing the latter to harm another person with her claws, to finally admitting running all the way from the hospital to here until she accidently tripped into the Tarrian River. The boys were good listeners; they didn't interrupt even once and showed honest guilt at the end of Ruby's story.

"To think that attacks were occurring at school and I was busy running away from Amelia Hall," Martin pinched his nose in disbelief.

"Amelia Hall?" Ruby frowned. "The Cuddle Buddy loving, gapped tooth, freshman girl dressed entirely in pink? Isn't she nicknamed 'The Sugar Cuddle of Freakness'?"

"Yeah, you know how Amelia's mom, DNAmy, not only gave Martin's dad genetically altered monkey hands and feet but also pursued him in the most wrongsick, stalking, obsessive way?" Gilliard told Ruby while Martin tried desperately to tell his friend to drop it. "Turns out the...genes were passed on to the next generation. Ever since Monkey Fist and Martin came to the Isle, DNAmy and Amelia have been chasing Monkey Fist and Martin respectively. About once every week, these crazy pink ladies have a special 'Love Your Cuddle Monkey Day' where they chase the love of their lives. That's why the Fiskes have to run for their lives!"

Martin groaned in embarrassment while Gilliard laughed his head off until Ruby, who fortunately took conscience of the fact that she should avoid harming another person with her claws, slapped him on the face. The boys looked at her in surprise.

"You know, I don't think it's funny to make fun of someone who's being stalked by an annoying person," she chided. "I should know. A blonde Nazi is stalking me since he moved here."

"Franz Schmitz...oh! So that explains why Mart became the hit of the latest UNHOLY GAZETTE edition!" Gilliard was referring to the last UNHOLY GAZETTE edition that François Tremaine had published; obviously he wasn't kidding when he said that the next headlines would say ' **NAZI V.S MONKEY LORD. WHO WILL WIN THE FAIR MAIDEN?** '.

"Remind me to add Tremaine to my list of people to curse with one of my monkey idols," Martin groaned.

"Please do," Ruby muttered as she tried to scrub the tar of her skin.

"Mart, I think your girlfriend needs a bath." Gilliard's comment made both Ruby and Martin's faces flush with red hues.

"We're not dating!" Ruby said.

"Why in Hanuman do you think we're an item?" Martin demanded.

They both said these at the same time.

"Gee, I don't know." The son of Gil Moss pulled out a paper from his swampy brown pants and revealed it to be a bunch of childish doodles explaining his reasons. "The Fiskes hardly have any visitors in their castle and you spent a morning there, _having breakfast there_. Then, Martin's butler took you and Martin to school while the two of you were sitting next to one another _in the back_. Then, you chose to be inter-level week partners, he took you mini-golfing, and he keeps acting all gentlemanly everytime he's around you. He could have easily walked away in disgust at the sight of covered in tar, but he didn't, did he?" He put away his paper back in his pocket as he gave the two of them a smug grin. "Those are my reasons."

Ruby and Martin were both speechless. They couldn't believe that Gilliard's voice rung with truth. For Martin's part, he hardly ever stuck around with girls, even for a few seconds. Even when it came to his family friend Buffy Killigan, he didn't spend much time with her. He didn't want to go on about Amelia Hall, for he'd rather get struck by lightning than spend even 0.5 seconds near 'The Sugar Cuddle of Freakness'. But Ruby...he couldn't believe he didn't notice that he spent much more time than with any of his other peers in less than a day. He barely met her last Monday and, for some reason, he didn't enjoy not spending more than an hour with her. For Ruby's part, she grew a fear of dating ever since her heart broke once, which is why she dreaded boys pursuing her, one of them being Franz. But with Martin...for some reason that she couldn't put her finger on, she felt...comfortable being around him.

Their thoughts were cut off when they heard a voice shouting in the air: " **GILLIARD MOSS! YOU ARE IN BIG TROUBLE IF YOU DON'T COME HERE!** "

"Uh oh, it's my dad!" Gilliard gasped. "He's probably freaked out that I ditched school. I gotta swim, Mart! Nice seeing ya too, Ruby!" He instantly ran towards the Tarrian River, where he jumped into the disgusting tar and began swimming against the current until he was out of sight.

"Exactly how are you two friends?" Ruby asked Martin.

"Ugh. The fact that our fathers have a foe in common: Ron Stoppable." Once again, Martin was displeased at mentioning the name of his father's arch-foe. "Believe me, it was a surprise, during our first week here, we get the visit of two fish-human mutants and the father is like this to my father: 'Hi, I'm an old camper from Camp Wannaweep! I knew your arch-foe, Ron Stoppable! He's the reason why I mutated! Wanna be friends?'" Martin shook his head. "Who knows what it would have been like if my father's arch-foe never went to Camp Wannaweep. Maybe he'd never have his monkey phobia or get access to the Mystical Monkey Power..."

"A lot of may...ATCHOO!" Ruby's sentence got cut off when she started sneezing! Realizing that the tar was getting colder on her skin, Martin unbuttoned his shirt, removed it, and handed it to Ruby without a blink.

"Martin! I...I can't accept this!" Ruby stammered, both out of fluster due to Martin's endless chivalry and extreme blushing at the sight of his slender, bare chest and torso. Well, maybe not so bare after all: he did have a sort of black monkey tattoo on his chest.

"Yeah, that wasn't a request." His shadowy grey eyes gave her a serious look indicating that he wasn't kidding. Ruby sighed in defeat as she put on his black shirt, which surprisingly fit her well and had quite a smell of sandalwood incense.

"Thanks," she said.

"My pleasure," Martin said.

"So...should I guess that this isn't an ordinary tattoo," Ruby sniffed as she pointed at Martin's chest. He looked down at it.

"That? Nah, it's just my old mark of villainy. The position of the monkey is the general depiction of Mystical Monkey Power. You can easily find it in any book talking about Tai Shing Pek Kwar. Of course, the way I obtained the mark gave me quite a pain in the chest." Martin's voice trailed off into sadness as he said the last words.

"I'm sorry," Ruby said sincerely. "I won't ever bring it up...if that's alright with you."

"Of course."

Good thing that Bates arrived in his jeep by the time it started to rain.


	54. Hosted

Chapter 54: Hosted

It was raining cats and dogs now in the Isle of The Lost, and due to the insane attacks and the usual flooding of the boiler room in Dragon Hall during rainstorms, school was to be cancelled tomorrow and everyone was advised to stay home. But the insane showers of Mother Nature didn't stop Shan Yu from going to Lord Monkey Fist's castle to ensure the 'housing' of Ruby Kyle.

"So whatever happened to Catwoman?" Monkey Fist asked Shan Yu while the two of them were having tea in the monkey man's office.

"Confined to Arkham Asylum, I'm afraid," Shan Yu said quietly. None of the two men dared to joke about the asylum: the dreadful facility that once held villains and tried to rehabilitate them back in the mainland had been transferred to the Isle Of The Lost twenty years ago and served solely as an asylum for residents gone mad. "Ms. Kyle had been suffering of a mental disorder from overpressure of raising her only child by herself. I fear that this...situation would be rather unhealthy for the mother and daughter if they keep staying around one another. Especially since the daughter has a mechanical mutation threatening her life."

"A pity," Monkey Fist sincerely said as he drank his Earl Grey. "I had no idea that the situation was that difficult."

"Honestly, Lord Fiske, I'm grateful that you are willing to let Ruby Kyle stay here while things are sorted out. Quite frankly, it was hard enough to convince Ultron to spare time to work on adjust that adamantium she has in order to prevent certain death, but you on the other hand..."

"Oh it was nothing." Monkey Fist brushed off the compliment. "Ms. Kyle has done quite much, really, from defying one of Lady De Mort's pythonacondas to save one of my son's monkey ninjas to scaring off DNAmy and her dreadful daughter." He shuddered at the thought of him and his son having to run around in the Isle in order to avoid the Cuddle Buddy fanatics.

"Now that I think about it, isn't your son and Ruby Kyle quite a cute scene?" Shan Yu asked with a chuckle. "You'd be surprised by the amount of youthful gossip I hear from a few of the Huns attending Dragon Hall. Seems like every soul in the school except for these two think that they're an item."

It was now Monkey Fist's turn to chuckle. "Martin's _so_ in denial. Almost every single one of our monkey ninjas kept asking him every day if Ruby was his girlfriend. Even _Killigan_ called me last Wednesday and said: 'So I heard ya son is in a relationship with Catwoman's lassie.' I mean, it's obvious to _everyone_ , but these two are _that_ blind?"

"And you're comfortable with the...possibility of romance between the two?" Shan Yu frowned in curiosity. His question made Monkey Fist pause a bit.

"Well my...Martin has shown to develop quite an attachment to Ruby," he said. "I mean, he barely spends even five seconds around girls in Dragon Hall- I blame myself for letting him find out the truth about his own mother- but around this girl...he instantly tries to be pleasant and gentlemanly."

"That's what you get for raising your child to be a British gentleman," Shan Yu joked.

 _Meanwhile_

Ruby winced. It wasn't the tar on her skin and having a murderous time rubbing it off her skin with a sponge. No, it was the first contact her skin had with the shower's hot water that made her wince. Getting clean water for washing had always been issue in the ghetto she used to reside with Catwoman in downtown, but the water the Fiskes used in their water was not only bacteria free but _sauna burning_. By the time she was done cleaning herself and made sure that the tar had gone down the drain, her Caucasian skin had slight hints of red from scrubbing too much.

"Way to go, Ruby," Ruby told the silent reflection of herself she was seeing in the bathroom's vanity mirror-no need to mention that the mirror was monkey designed. The image she was seeing right now was a pure depiction of what she feared to become: an evil soul hurting others. _Deal with it, girl!_ She scolded herself. _You're in an island full of villains. What did you expect?_

She then spotted the clothes that Bates had left for her by the sink while he had her own cleaned. "Oh you've got to be kidding...," she groaned.

 _A few minutes later_

Martin was sitting on a comfortable chair, reading one of his father's old books discussing his archeology career, while waiting for Ruby to get cleaned up. The young man had always been fascinated by Monkey Fist's work before and after the entire villainy dedication, and Martin hoped to become both an Ultimate Monkey Master and an archeologist. He had also hoped to follow his model's footsteps by starting off a prominent education at Oxford, but being related to a villain would have prevented him from doing so back on the mainland, even if his father, Lord Monty Fiske, was among the Oxford alumni. Well it wasn't like being in the Isle helped anyway...

"Martin, **please** do tell me why Bates chose **these** for me!" he heard Ruby exclaim. Martin shut his book and got up until he saw Ruby and seeing her in her current state literally made him fall back on his chair. She was wearing a ruby-colored wrap over dress with golden flowers embroided at the end and black, heeled sandals. Her brown pixie haircut was groomed and well brushed.

"Uh...I...Well," Martin stammered. He was in a loss of words right now. "I have no idea."

"It's already bad enough that I feel like a burden for you and your dad..." Ruby said while pinching the fabric of her dress.

"No, no! You aren't a burden!" Martin shook his hands in defense while struggling to keep his eyes away from Ruby's...lovely appearance. Looks like the color of the gem really matched her. "I myself have...no idea of why Bates took out one of my late grandmother's old garden party dresses."

" _Your late grandmother's old garden party dresses?_ " Ruby asked sharply.

"Hey, it wasn't my...!" Martin stopped talking until he noticed a monkey ninja peeking from the doorway, and judging by the monkey's collar and nature as a spider monkey, Martin knew whom he was dealing with. "Excuse me for a moment," he told Ruby before shouting at the monkey ninja: " **Semifreddo**! Get here at once!" He pointed a finger on the floor, motioning the spider monkey ninja to come.

"Cappuccino, and now Semifreddo?" Ruby frowned as Semifreddo knuckle-walked towards its master. "Why do your monkey ninjas have Italian names?"

"I happen to be a fan of Italian cuisine," Martin shrugged. "Besides, with all the monkey ninjas my father and I have, one of each species, it helps keep track of which ones are mine." He then looked down at Semifreddo. "Semifreddo, do care to explain to me why my guest is wearing this!" He pointed a finger at Ruby. Semifreddo gave a quick glance at Ruby before squealing something at his master, who blushed in embarrassment.

"You...you had Bates put these in the bathroom because you thought that _my girlfriend would look_ _ **cute**_ _in it?!"_ Martin's eyes nearly popped out of his eye sockets. "She's not my girlfriend!"

"Even the monkey thinks we're an item?" Ruby groaned. "Is everyone a matchmaker on this Isle?"

Semifreddo chirped something.

"Correction: it's _every_ single one of my monkey ninjas that think we're an item," Martin said in dismay. "I can't even let one capuchin monkey run around without spreading gossip to her peeps!"

"Please tell me there's other clothing in this castle, Martin," Ruby begged. "I already feel like I'm dressed as one of the waitresses at Legume Tavern."

"Regardless of the fact that I think you look more decent than those waitresses, I agree that you need something else." Ruby briefly bushed while Martin pondered. "We do have some spare ninja uniforms..." He felt his pants being tugged and looked down to see Semifreddo pulling them in order to get his attention. Martin gave an annoyed glare saying 'What?' until the monkey pulled out of nowhere a plastic bag with a folded suit in it. Martin gawked in horror.

" **Semifreddo, you twisted monkey! I'll have your head spiked!** " Martin screamed.

"What's next after the dress?" Ruby asked sarcastically. "Role model for the next eligible monkey bachelor of the year?"

"Worse..."

 _About an hour later_

"...Set up date dinner," Martin cried out loud.

The truth rang in his words: his monkey ninjas had dared to organize a 'date dinner' in the castle's dining room for the two of them. Where was Martin's father whenever he needed him?

The table was decorated with a white lace tablecloth, fancy silverware and golden plates with dancing monkey designs, crystal cups, and two green vases full of red hydrangeas, orange hibiscus, yellow dahlias, blue chrysanthemums, pink roses, violets, and a series of clover and mistletoe leaves. The room's large chandelier had lit candles that really illuminated the room and all the decorations it had in it, which mostly consisted of monkey paintings, statues, or carvings. A warm fire was burning on logs within the chimney.

"Ten points for the monkeys for their set up skills," Ruby whistled. She took a sniff of the flowers. "Florence would be jealous! These flowers make such a great bouquet!"

"Yes, they've really outdone themselves," Martin said drily. He shot a dead glare at half of the monkey ninjas in the room. They instantly got the message and scurried off.

"Chrysanthemums! My favorites!" Ruby pulled one of the blue flowers out of one vases and inhaled from its petals. "Mmh! These are more fragrant than those I've ever smelled back in Gotham!"

"You like them?" Seeing Ruby looking happy around those flowers washed away Martin's angry thoughts concerning his monkeys. Her smile was really worthy of a tough tigress.

"Are you kidding?" Ruby gently stroked the blue petals with her fingers. "I dared to steal some from a flower shop once right after my mom refused to get me some for my eighth birthday...even when I said that's all I wanted on that day."

"Why on earth would she refuse to give you a chrysanthemum as a birthday gift?" Martin frowned. This was perhaps a new thing to him, being renounced of a gift, but he didn't have the right to complain. He was the son of a British Lord who could provide him with anything he needed or desired. After all, Monkey Fist didn't hesitate to force a local driving tutor back in England to give his son driving lessons when the latter asked for a car as a 17th birthday present. But refusing even something as small as a flower? That was really something Martin didn't hear every day.

"Everytime she'd say 'no' to anything I ask her, she'd always say: 'Because it's my way of raising you. Don't ever ask me again.'" Ruby sighed as she began putting the chrysanthemum back in the vase, but mere seconds before she could achieve her action, Martin gently took hold of the stem, his hand slightly contacting hers and causing an instant, sensational warmth between the two skins.

"When is your birthday?" Martin asked as he pulled away the flower from Ruby's hand.

"Oh, it's already long past," Ruby said dismissively. "It was on July 15th..."

"July? Isn't that the month to have a ruby as a gemstone?" Martin smiled teasingly, causing Ruby to blush a bit. Using one of his own monkeyish claws, he cut the stem in order to shorten it and placed it right above Ruby's right ear. The latter was stunned by his gesture that she didn't know how to respond when he briefly stroked her hair, which felt so smooth and silky in his fingers. "Well, maybe we can consider this little chrysanthemum and the 'set up date dinner' as part of a late birthday celebration instead of a matchmaking plot elaborated by my minions."

"You'd do that...for me?" Ruby was too touched for words. Good thing Bates knocked on the door with the dining cart full of food just a few minutes later. Otherwise, he would have witnessed the young lord taking his guest's hand and planting a soft kiss on it before giving a sincere smile and answer.

"Of course."


	55. Cared

Chapter 55: Cared

It might have been Friday with school being cancelled (as predicted) and Lord Monkey Fist might have allowed his son to sleep longer (especially with the chase they had endured yesterday, who could blame them?), but Martin still found himself waking up early. A little too early, to be accurate. He didn't understand why he woke when the Victorian grandfather clock in his room struck five times, but he didn't bother going back to sleep. Any time he woke up just made going back to sleep harder, one of the sole misfortunes of being trained in Tai Shing Pek Kwar.

Not that he wasn't grateful that he learned the ancient art, of course.

He sat up straight on the canopy bed he usually slept in his room and groaned while his hand rubbed his eyes. Martin was still a teenager, and like most people of his age, he hated waking up tired.

Martin pulled the red, monkey patterned curtains that surrounded his bed in order to get out of bed and head for the bathroom connected to his bedroom, which looked like a traditional Victorian room consisted of the expected bed, furniture, study, and bookshelves. The only exceptions were the Dark Rulers poster he had on the wall, right next to the window, a small television, and almost three quarter of everything being monkey themed. Just what one would expect from the son of a British lord obsessed with monkeys.

Rain could be heard from outside once Martin was done with his shower, who slightly smirked at a memory of back in his first days on the Isle when he and Gilliard Moss just started hanging out. The fish-boy mutant had been confused of why Martin took a shower like the other boys after gym class, apparently expecting him to groom himself up in a more monkey-like manner.

" _I'm still half-human, you know_ ," Martin had told Gilliard while rolling his eyes. " _Just because I have simian hands and feet doesn't mean that I clean myself like a wild animal._ "

Martin caught a quick glimpse at his reflection on the mirror while putting his usual martial artist uniform on. No expression other than remorse began to fill him when he saw the shadowy grey color, the shape, and the dark rings of his eyes. The dark rings were genetically passed from Monkey Fist, but the color and the shape...came from his mother.

A quick pain coming from the mark of villainy on his torso reminded him to snap out of it. Remembering meeting his mother for the first and last time back in India five years ago was a bitter memory in his mind.

Once he was done cleaning himself up, he got out of his room in the stealthiest silence as possible. Bates was probably still sleeping by now and perhaps the same thing applied to Martin's father. The monkey ninjas, however, could be anywhere. He just hoped that none of them repeated Cappuccino's action from last Monday and getting herself into trouble with a pythonaconda until Ruby came in...

Thinking of Ruby then made Martin consider checking up on her, just to make sure that she had well slept this evening. He smiled at the memory of last night's dinner, which had turned out quite well minus the fact that it was all a set up from his monkey ninjas. Her being there with him had been a delight that he could have never imagined...

"Good Lord, I'm starting to think like the others," he sighed to himself until he heard a distant noise approaching. He nearly got on a fighting stance until he saw two of his monkey ninjas coming towards him, one carrying a box with an envelope on top of it and the other carrying what looked like a vase of flowers.

"Vitello, Tartufo, may I ask what you're doing?" Martin asked the two monkeys, a vervet monkey and a golden lion tamarin respectively. Vitello handed the envelope to his master, who recognized the handwriting of his friend Napoleon Moriarty despite the envelope and letter's wet condition.

" _'My friend, since you and I are closer neighbors, my fiancée Noir has asked me to help her deliver this box, which contains the belongings of your friend Ruby. Noir took the liberty of going to her house from the Supervile-village's ghettos in downtown in order to get them since your friend was said to be staying with your for quite some time. Good luck with the storm. With all due regards, Napoleon. P.S: I have recovered from yesterday's attacks, but my parents are now refusing to let me leave our castle without an escort. Don't succumb a similar fate_.'" Martin read the letter out loud and mentally slapped himself when he realized he forgot that Ruby had mentioned Napoleon getting attacked yesterday. He and the dhampyr were good friends, especially since they were the offspring of evil British men.

"Vitello, remind me to send a letter to Napoleon wishing him to get better," he told Vitello, who chirped in acknowledgement. "Tartufo, what's with the flowers?"

Tartufo showed the vase to Martin, who was stunned to see that it was full of blue chrysanthemums. Ruby's favorite flowers. Tartufo squealed something that really touched Martin.

"How sweet of you to consider making her a welcoming gift," he said as he bent down to pet Tartufo on the head. "I'm sure Ruby would appreciate it even more if you gave them to her personally." He frowned when he noticed his monkeys changing their expressions into nervous ones until Vitello chirped something that really concerned Martin.

 _The guest room, a few minutes later_

Martin looked at the bottle of deep sleep pills that his left hand was holding.

From what Vitello had told him, Ruby had been dreading to sleep, not knowing what could occur to her after what she had endured lately, and Bates had suggested something that she didn't hesitate to accept: taking a deep sleep pill to ensure that she would sleep undisturbed.

Once Vitello and Tartufo led Martin to the guest room, the room that Ruby was currently occupying in the castle, and helped him place the box on the floor, he had them excused and get a day off. By the time they left and closed the door behind them, Martin had taken the bottle from the nightstand and was reading its catalog.

" _'Guaranteed to make you sleep for the next nine to ten hours'_ ," Martin read quietly. He put the bottle back on the nightstand before turning his attention towards the royal round bed that stood next to the nightstand. But the bed wasn't his main interest.

His main interest was the person sleeping in it.

Ruby was wrapped up in the white sheets, her slumbering head resting on one of the soft pillows, her chest heaving up and down visibly through her purple nightgown at each silent breath, her brown hair in a sort of messy, yet flowing state, and her facial expression in a neutral, yet serene state. She was in Martin's eyes a better version of Sleeping Beauty herself. The tough tigress had turned into a kitten in the middle of a very long catnap.

But then she began to shift in her sleep and her features were starting to become those of a frightened person, which made Martin realize that the deep sleep pill must be starting to wear off and Ruby's sleeping state must have gone from a neutral one to the one a person enduring dreadful nightmares.

"Please, no..." Ruby whimpered in her sleep, her hand clutching the pillow and her adamantium nails nearly ripping the fabric. "I didn't have any other solution...I was desperate..."

 _Great God_ , Martin thought as his soul filled with pity just by seeing Ruby on the verge of tossing and turning, her scared expression getting worse by the minute.

"Corbeau, how could you? You...you said you loved me," Ruby whimpered, her voice giving out a hint of heartbreak. Martin frowned at the name she mentioned. Corbeau? Who the heck was he? And why did Martin feel like something inside him was burning at the idea of a heartbroken Ruby, as if she had been turned into a crippled jewel?

"Gordon told me the Fiskes stole that idol. But they didn't...He tricked me into it. He even bragged about it! How could I have been so selfish, ruining the life of others? Martin's stuck in this Isle and it's all my fault! He'd probably murder me by now if he knew what I did!"

The sleeping girl's remorseful words crying out of her mouth triggered old words in Martin's memory. ' _To think that the Shadow Seeker was so easy to be toyed with_. _I mean, she thought she was merely fetching a stolen monkey idol from Monkey Fist and his bastard son, but she was only a pawn to lead us to those criminals capture. Not to mention that, by stealing their actual property, she just increased her criminal record.'_ He recalled the emotions he had felt when he and his father were dragged in a police car and overheard Gordon's horrible words: anger towards the official who tricked Shadow Seeker, a mercenary known for doing things out of survival needs, into leading the Fiskes towards captivity and herself in a life of guilt (which Martin assumed she led, since the idol she 'stole' from him and his father was never found in a museum). And lastly, forgiveness, for he knew what it was like to be deceived.

But Ruby being the Shadow Seeker? Emotionally speaking, it made sense since Ruby did seem to have rather traumatizing past experiences and as a result gravely looked down on herself, but perceptively speaking, it didn't make sense since the Shadow Seeker had appeared to be a disguised adult.

She cried once more into her pillow and let tears wet the fabric. With sympathy overwhelming him, Martin let one of his monkey hands trail towards Ruby and gently caress her cheek, feeling her cold skin brushing onto the hair on the back of his hand.

"I've forgiven you for ages, Ruby," he said quietly. His caress was moving from the Caucasian skin to the soft brown hair; his physical gestures seemed to work on Ruby, as she was begin to whimper less while still sleeping. Good thing Martin remembered this technique that his father used as a remedy for his son's frights back when Martin was still a toddler and afraid of the occurring thunderstorms coming from outside their castle while they still lived in England. Martin chuckled at the old memories of his two-year-old self cuddling in Lord Monkey Fist's protective arms while the latter was sitting in his armchair and promising his only child to never let harm come to him.

"Mmh."

Martin's mind went back to reality when he felt Ruby moving against the skin of his hand. At first, he assumed that she was just stirring in her sleep again until he noticed that her eyes were in the process of fluttering themselves open. Eventually, he saw their lovely hazel color.

"M...Martin?" Ruby asked in a surprised tone that sounded rather hazy due to the fact that she just woke up. "How long was I asleep?"

"I've no idea of when you took the pill, but judging by the clock, it's ten minutes before six," Martin said. He began to pull his hand away from her in order to give her space, but she grabbed it, making him feel her quivering skin.

"Were you honest...when you said you forgave me?" She tried to sit up on her bed but her tired body was refusing to support her until Martin rushed by her side in order to help her out. They then found themselves sitting by each other's side with Martin holding Ruby close to his beating chest while she tried to find solace in his embrace. It was honestly a déjà vu scene for Martin, a scene from when he was two and he was frightened and his father was right there to console him.

"I never lie, Ruby," he told her. "I never lie to those I care for." The truth rung in his words and he knew it: she might have been the Shadow Seeker, she might have caused his imprisonment, and he only 'officially' knew her since last Monday, but Martin Fiske cared for Ruby Kyle.

"That idol I stole from you...I told Noir to put it in the package she promised to deliver to me," Ruby said in a calmer tone as she wiped away her tears. "You'll probably want your property back."

A monkey hand placed itself under her chin in order to look straight into the shadow grey eyes of the monkey boy. No sign of anger, revenge, or anything negative could be seen in them right now.

"No mystical monkey idol in the entire world could ever replace you," Martin whispered to her. The words obviously touched her, and before Ruby knew it, the monkey boy bent down in order to give her a small kiss that contrasted the one he gave her yesterday on her hand since this time his lips touched hers. It was a very brief, yet sweet moment between the two of them, and it was quite certain that they wished it would last longer.

"Martin...," Ruby sighed once they broke the small kiss. He gently shushed her.

"Sleep. I'll be right here for you, I promise." Ruby smiled at him before tiredness beckoned her and she found herself falling asleep in Martin's arms. The latter kept her close to his heart. "Always."


	56. Hookied

Chapter 56: Hookied

Tuesday morning was rather awkward for Nora Belartiste. First, there were the previous attacks that nearly led her foster father to go paranoid and lock every door and window of their house. Secondly, for some reason, whoever decided to attack the students at Dragon Hall had decided to 'take a vacation from harassing teenagers' as Professor Yzma put it. Apparently, the attacker from last Thursday (Nora pitied Ruby for inadvertently murdering him) turned out to be some sort of dim-witted pharmacist-Mulciber, was it? Apparently that's what they found in his villainous citizenship ID.- The Isle's best brain experts and mind-controllers tried their hardest to analyze his dead brain in order to figure out his intentions, but they found nothing related to the incidents at Dragon Hall and nothing that could relate to his villainous activity before his imprisonment on the Isle. All they could determine was that he couldn't possibly have the brains to commit such an awful crime spree on children and that he could have perhaps been the pawn of a bigger criminal mind, which didn't make the adults feel any better.

So who the heck was behind the attacks?

And lastly, right when Nora was about to close her locker, Ruby accidently bumped into her and fell butt first on the ground. The sketchbook she was holding in her hand flipped open, revealing a majority of Ruby's artwork.

"Hey, this is neat artwork, Ruby!" Nora bent down in front of Ruby and picked up the sketchbook, skimming through the pages full of illustrations depicting cats, people, some areas in the Isle, and some sort of diner that she didn't recognize.

"Thanks," Ruby grinned while rubbing her left shoulder. Nora Belartiste was one of the rare seniors at Dragon Hall that she hung out with before Martin came in. The purple-skinned, redheaded lavender girl was the daughter of the Evillustrator, a villain who could bring his art to life and erase things from reality. Of course, his villainy started with another villain named Hawk Moth, who turned him from a normal Parisian civilian to a villain under his control in order to get some sort of weapon called 'Miraculous'. Attempt after attempt, Hawk Moth had brainwashed and controlled people through a process called 'akumatizing' and failed at each attempt thanks to his foes, Ladybug and Cat Noir. One day, while the United States of Auradon were still forming, he re-akumatized all the people he turned evil in order to form an army, but once again he was defeated and sent to the Isle Of The Lost. However, many of his akumatized villains were expecting children while working for him, so when the children were born and the villains turned back to their normal selves, they received their parents' evil heritage and Hawk Moth had no choice but to raise them as his on the Isle. Nora was among the elder children of his eight to ten foster sons and daughters, and quite honestly, she didn't see Hawk Moth as a terrible father, but she wished to have known her _actual_ father, the Evillustrator.

By the time Ruby got up, Nora's artistic eyes caught one illustration in particular that showed lots of well done pencil strokes, so live-like movement, much emotion...and heart doodles that were so out of style compared to the life-based drawing.

"Crushing on the monkey boy?" Nora chuckled as she showed the illustration to Ruby, who blushed when she realized that Nora was referring to that illustration of Martin that Ruby made while she watched him and his father train their Tai Shing Pek Kwar during the weekend.

"It's not a crush," she denied as Nora gave her sketchbook back.

"Ruby, Ruby." Nora shook her head in amusement. "My biological dad drew comic books of his old crush before he was akumatized into the Evillustrator. You think that simply saying you're not crushing on him is that easy around me? Besides, I'm pretty certain that nearly half the Isle noticed you and Martin Fiske bonding over the last week."

Ruby said nothing as she glanced at her illustration of Martin; Nora was right: Ruby and Martin had been getting closer than ever now that she 'resided' with the Fiskes, and their relationship had obviously upgraded from newly acquainted people to the one that best friends had for a lifetime. Maybe even more than that...Ruby didn't notice herself making an enamored grin at the memory of the brief kiss Martin had given her Friday morning until she realized that Nora was giving her a smug 'I-told-you-so' look, making Ruby shake herself back to reality.

"Even if I am...crushing on Martin," she struggled to say the word 'crushing', "we can't possibly be entering a relationship beyond friendship. I...kind of have a problem..."

"Amelia Hall?" Nora asked.

"What? No, not her. I was kind of referring to my old and terrible dating experiences..."

"Your dates sucked?"

"Worse...my ex-boyfriend completely ditched me when I got arrested."

"Ouch," Nora made an uneasy face. Hawk Moth had told her of how her biological father became evil after being mocked about his crush on a classmate who eventually turned against them even though he promised to stop being evil if she went on a date with him. Lesson learned: a villain loving a hero wasn't a great idea.

Nora tried to brush off the topic, knowing that her friend didn't want to get into further details about her old flame. "So you're not one bit terrified of the Sugar Cuddle of Freakness? I mean, you did scare her with tar." She chuckled at the memory of Gilliard Moss' story of Ruby accidently falling in the Tarrian River and scaring the living daylights out of DNAmy and Amelia as the 'Creature of the Tarrian River'. Minus the parts involving Ruby, the story had reached the ears of François Tremaine, who posted Monday's edition of the UNHOLY GAZETTE with the headlines ' **CUDDLE BUDDY FREAK FREAKED OUT BY TAR** ', which laughed the life out of all the student body staff and nearly made them forget the attacks.

"Why would I be afraid of..." Ruby frowned. "Remind me, how old is Amelia exactly?"

"Physically or mentally?" Nora asked.

"Both."

"Fourteen for the first and ten years younger for the last one. As for why you should be afraid, if you exclude her obsession with Cuddle Buddies and her sugary personality, she's quite an expert on genetics like DNAmy. When she demonstrated her gene-splicing of a cat and a cobra back in 3rd grade, we all learned one thing, _especially_ the guys: _run away from Amelia as fast as you can_. As for Monkey Boy..." Nora shuddered at the topic. "He made quite a first impression when he first started at Dragon Hall and he unfortunately ran into Amelia. We heard two screams on that day."

"One that sounded like the scream you'd hear when somebody gets an awesome Christmas present on Christmas Day and the other one from an impaled bull screaming in agony and despair while being turned into shish kebab?" Ruby guessed.

" _Precisely._ So take my advice and keep the guy. You'll be saving his life!"

"Yes, but..."

" _You're stealing_ _ **my**_ _Cuddle Monkey?_ " a voice shouted. Good thing that half the school had study hall on Tuesday mornings, otherwise they would have seen Nora Belartiste and Ruby Kyle freaking out at the sight of Amelia bursting out of a nearby locker.

Ruby had never met Amelia in person until now, but judging by the fact that the fourteen-year-old girl was wearing a crazy pinkish shawl and magenta dress with designs of otterflies (that ghastly Cuddle Buddy species she adored), pink-and-sickly-turquoise boots with orange bows on them, a DNA-designed barrette holding back her shoulder-length, crazily cropped black hair, and glasses that couldn't hold back her burning freckles, greasy white skin, and gritting, gapped teeth. Her right hand held a large otterfly plush as if it were a weapon.

"Correction: _now_ I know why I should be terrified!" Ruby said in disgust. She could especially understand now why Martin was desperate to ditch school last Thursday.

"Why did are you stealing _my_ Cuddle Monkey?" Amelia stomped her foot like a toddler in the middle of a tantrum. "He's _my_ Cuddle Monkey!"

"My bad, I didn't see a nametag on it saying he was your property," Ruby said drily. "Aren't you a little old for that idiotic plush toy? Man, I pity the designer who created your ugly BF here." She pointed at the otterfly while insulting Amelia, who fumed and began chasing Nora and Ruby down the hall.

"That's nice now!" Nora glared at Ruby with a 'Look what you got us into' look. "I'll be turned into a mutant before I can even graduate!"

"Erase that door and keep running towards it!" Ruby pointed at the door of the approaching elevator.

" _Are you nuts?_ " Nora bellowed.

"Do it!"

Nora quickly pulled out a pencil and a piece of paper and began doing a live sketch of the elevator door. Since her father was the Evillustrator, Nora could draw anything to life or erase any existing thing, and right now, she was erasing the elevator door out of existence and causing the dark elevator shaft to reveal itself. The girls kept running towards it while Amelia still chased and called them 'meanies' until Ruby pulled Nora by the arm and dragged her to the nearest wall, leaving Amelia to shriek in horror as she slipped and fell into the dark shaft. Nora and Ruby quickly rushed to look down at the shaft when Amelia's echoing scream stopped.

"We didn't just kill her, right?" Ruby freaked out, nearly remembering her last kill. She called out to Amelia. "You OK down there?"

"I got a few booboos on me, but I'm good!" Amelia shouted in an oddly positive voice.

"Phew!" Ruby said in relief before backing away from the shaft. "Bye now!"

"Hey! You can't leave me down there! That's down right mean!"

"Isn't that the purpose of an island full of villains?"

Nora was rather impressed by the scenario and drew a janitor closet that concealed the missing elevator door. "Now _that_ was wicked." She patted Ruby on the shoulder. "You're learning quicker than usual."

"You don't think I was too rough?" Ruby asked.

"Relax, there's an emergency ladder in the shaft, but it zigzags across the building until it reaches the Botanical Biochemistry gardens. Knowing Amelia's toddler brain, she'll be out by nightfall..." Her head perked and a cartoony light bulb appeared on top of her head for some reason. "I just got an idea! You are now ready to hookie!"

"Hookie?" Ruby frowned as Nora dragged her by the arm down the nearest set of stairs and avoiding the hall chaperones.

Nora pulled out her phone and texted Gilliard Moss' number. "Yep."

 _The underground docks of the Tarrian River in the school catacombs a few minutes later_

"Remind me again why we're in the catacombs?" Martin asked Gilliard as they waited on the wooden catwalk. Good thing they both had study hall on Tuesday mornings. "Because in case you forgot, Amelia Hall nearly squeezed me to death here with one of her ghastly bear hugs!" He shuddered at the thought. The pink horror had tried to get back at him from 'playing hard to get' last Thursday, prompting Martin to hide in his locker until Gilliard could find a way to shoo her away successfully.

"She got shafted," Gilliard shrugged as he read the text Nora Belartiste just sent him.

Martin nearly threw up. "You mean she had sex with someone?" Who the hell would want to sleep with that freak? Certainly not him.

"Not _that_ kind of shafted!" Gilliard said in exasperation. "Shafted as in she got stuck in the elevator shaft and won't come out until nightfall!"

"My worst nightmare getting stuck in an elevator shaft?" A image of Amelia getting crushed into a purée of Sugar Cuddle of Freakness popped in his head with a thousand hallelujah in his head. "Looks like the American Dream _does_ exist."

"You've been reading Of Mice And Men from Devilish Literature class while you were in your locker, haven't you?" Gilliard shook his head as he read the text further. "So how did this weekend go?"

"What do you mean?"

"Hello, isn't Ruby Kyle, your true sweetheart, currently staying at your house?"

Martin blushed, his memories instantly driving him to the small, yet pleasant kiss he had with Ruby last Friday morning. That was the very first kiss he ever shared with anyone; Martin nearly drooled in front of Gilliard while thinking of that luscious, creamy vanilla and strawberry taste her lips had given his until he brought himself back to reality.

"And don't start telling me your not crushing on her!" Gilliard prevented Martin from speaking. "I've seen your obvious behavior towards, her picture in that hear-shaped monkey frame in your locker, and your current drool. Not to mention that story of Señor Senior Three..."

"You heard that story?" Martin asked in embarrassment. Last Saturday, the Fiskes were invited to a garden party held by the Señor Seniors and they had brought Ruby with them. She had only worn a simple long black opera dress with simple jewelry, but that didn't stop most of the evil _male_ aristocrats to give her wolf eyes, much Ruby's uneasiness and Martin's jealousy. But the embarrassing part? When Señor Senior Junior, the father of Señor Senior Three, had learned that Ruby had been staying for a while at the Fiske Estate and spending with Martin Fiske, he asked a rather loud and uncomfortable question that made Martin wish he had choked him on the spot.

"Did we miss the ceremony?" Yes, that was the horrible question. Apparently, the only possible reason that Ruby was residing in the same castle as the son of Lord Monkey Fist was that she was married to him. Junior could be so dumb!

"Yes, I heard the dumb story," Gilliard said before joking: "You'll have to wait ten more years before making me your best man."

"You know, there are times when I _loathe_ you," Martin muttered with a dry tone.

"Hey, what are BFFs for?" Gilliard shrugged.

Nora Belartiste finally appeared, and much to Martin's surprise, she was dragging Ruby with her. "Guess who shafted Amelia Hall?" Nora told the boys.

"I'm guessing you since you were capable of drawing an ugly caricature of Count Olaf once during his boring lesson of monologues in Evil Drama Class?" Martin raised an eyebrow while Nora looked at him in annoyance.

"I only contributed in getting rid of the elevator door," she said before telling them the whole story.

"No way!" Martin looked at Ruby. " _You_ tricked _Amelia Hall_ into the _elevator shaft_?"

"She was a walking pink marshmallow caring the worst plush toy I've ever seen in my life!" Ruby defended herself. "What was I supposed to do? Besides, she called you her 'Cuddle Monkey' as if you were property!" Her last words made Martin shudder.

"So now that we're here, let's get the two of you out of the school!" Gilliard clasped his fishy hands together while Ruby and Martin both gave him incredulous looks.

"Wait!" Ruby turned towards Nora. "Nora, when you meant 'hookie', you mean 'ditch school'?"

"Precisely. If you're evil enough to trick a girl to fall into an elevator, then you're evil enough to ditch a day of school," Nora said proudly. "Don't feel so insecure. Almost every single student here at Dragon Hall has ditched classes about ten to eighteen times. I've done it eleven times."

"Besides, Martin here usually ditches school everytime Amelia chases him," Gilliard said. He patted the monkey boy on the shoulder until the latter brushed him off with one of his monkey hands.

"Wait a second...this isn't just about Amelia. YOU'RE TRYING TO SET US UP INTO GOING OUT ON A DATE AND USE IT AS AN EXCUSE TO HOOKIE!" Martin exclaimed.

"Oh no, not again!" Ruby exclaimed. "First it was the monkeys and now it's our friends?"

"Chill, we'll claim that you got sick at the last minute from eating one of Ingwer Hexe's demon coconut pralines and you had to go back home, we'll give you the homework you're missing, and yackedy yack," Nora ushered as she pulled out a drawing pad and a pencil. Martin and Ruby were at first confused until they realized to their shock that Nora was drawing them in front of the Skywalker Multiplex, the Isle's most popular movie theater.

"NORA, DON'T EVEN..." Ruby began, but it was too late: Nora's artistic reality warping powers had sent her and Martin all the way from underneath Dragon Hall to the waiting line of the Skywalker Multiplex. "I can't believe I got set up...again...into a date!"

"Consider yourself lucky that you don't have any minions to embarrass you like my monkey ninjas," Martin said as he pulled out something from his pocket. "I can't believe it! Nora even put a flyer of all the movies available today in my pocket!"

"Let me guess, she recommends some sort of romantic comedy," Ruby grumbled while Martin flipped through the flyer.

"Worse. A two-hour presentation of the entire first season of _How I Met Your Devil_."

"That dumb soap opera about stupid humans getting seduced by hot demons into leading a 'hellish awesome time of villainy' that everybody at school is into? I swore myself to get nowhere near it ever since Mystère and Ben kept babbling about it for hours!"

"Since when does an android like Ben Tron watch _How I Met Your Devil_?"

"Ever since he wanted to figure out the logic behind humans being downright dumb in almost every single episode."

"Figures."

 _Two hours later_

"Can you believe Jessica rejected Edward Lucifer?" Martin asked in disbelief while he and Ruby walked out of the Multiplex. They had fallen under the curse that every VK fell into once they saw the first episode of _How I Met Your Devil_ : after watching the rest of the first season, they were addicted to it.

"As if." Ruby rolled her eyes. "Now I know why Penny kept saying that making these two an official couple would have ruined the season and terminated the show right after it barely started."

"Let's be honest, now I'm dying to know what happens next in the church scene."

"Good thing that Noir lent me her entire collection of the series."

"I can instantly predict what my father is going to say once he learns I'm now a fan of _How I Met Your Devil_. He'll say: 'I just lost my son into one of those American soap operas.'"

They walked through the streets of the French Quarter, which was the Isle Of The Lost's urban sector for any residents of French nationality. The place looked like the combination of a slum, Parisian streets, and the New Orleans French Quarter. Even the Tarrian River flowed through the area in a style similar to La Seine; a crooked version of the Eiffel Tower rose above the icky river of tar as way to symbolize the 1910 flood of Paris. In some local eyes, the Isle's French Quarter was the second cleanest area in the city, with the Northern District being the first.

Ruby had been a few times in the French Quarter with a couple of her friends, especially Ingwer Hexe, who was fond of French cuisine and Creole gumbo, so she led Martin to a small café for the two of them to rest a bit.

"So what will it be for you today, _mademoiselle Ruby_?" asked Jean-Pierre, the waiter that Ruby knew the most at _Le Croissant Empoisonné_.

"The usual, please," Ruby said.

"And for you, _monsieur_?" Jean-Pierre asked Martin.

"A _café au lait_ along with a dish of _sablés_ , please," Martin said.

" _Merci_. Your order should be ready in less than a few minutes." Jean-Pierre left them at their table, which was right outside the café, as soon as he wrote down their order.

"I must admit that I don't come to the French Quarter very often," Martin told Ruby after the two had stayed quiet for quite some time.

"French versus British historical issues?" she guessed.

"That and also because I sort of lack acquaintances who enjoy coming here. Usually I either come with Bates whenever he needs to purchase some pastries or Napoleon Moriarty when there's a monthly sale of French rosée and bloody sangria."

"What about Gilliard? Doesn't he occasionally come here?"

Martin gave a skeptical frown. "Gilliard...in a café like this one? Please tell me you can picture that scene." Ruby took a moment to imagine the scene and shook her head.

"No, you're right. I can't picture the scene."

Martin chuckled at the face she made when she tried to picture the scenario. There were times when that girl seriously made him laugh.

"You know, I kind of think that the first hours of 'hookie' I've had so far weren't terrible," Ruby changed the topic. She sounded rather relaxed when saying this.

"Same here." Martin said. "I mean, almost every single time I hookie is because Amelia's chasing me. This almost feels like a vacation."

"Minus the fact that this time we got set up by Nora and Gilliard?"

"Precisely."

Jean-Pierre eventually came with their order, and a few seconds later, Martin's cup of _café au lait_ and Ruby's dark coffee cup were slightly hitting one another as their owners cheered.

"Honestly, don't you think I was a little rough by trapping Amelia Hall in an elevator shaft?" Ruby asked Martin sheepishly after she took a sip of her coffee.

"While I do confess that I liked the idea of the pink freak being locked away from me, I did have a slight fear of you killing her," Martin confessed as he dipped one of his _sablés_ into his cup. "Not that I worry of the freak's life, but I recalled you being in one of your worst states after, well, last Thursday."

Ruby looked both touched and grim: she was touched because Martin knew that her accidental kill had quite traumatized her and he was concerned for her, and she was grim at the thought of her action. She slightly slumped on her chair. "Killing an actual person was the worst thing that ever happened to me," she said remorsefully. Her head lifted once she felt Martin taking her hand and gently caressing it in a manner not so different from the way he stroke her face last Friday.

"I know what it's like," he reassured her. Ruby felt herself getting slightly better. "You know, I have a very small area just in the outskirts of Davy Jones Cove, ten miles away from the nearest house, that I like to go to whenever my mind needs some clear thought. Nobody else knows about it, but if you want, I could take you there..."

"You'd trust me enough with such a secret?" Ruby asked in awe.

"Well, as long as you're familiar with two certain things, yes."

"And those two certain things are?"

"Picnic and swimming."

 _Close to noon_

"Careful! Watch that step!" Martin said as he guided a blindfolded Ruby down a trail of rocks. After they were done at _Le Croissant Empoisonné_ , they had taken a tramway (yes, the Isle had one of those) that led from the French Quarter all the way south at the station right outside the Davy Jones Cove. The duo had walked into a small forest of trees (that weren't part of the Infinite Forest, thankfully), where Martin had begun to blindfold Ruby in order to lead her to his secret place.

"Are we almost there?" Ruby asked, feeling slightly giddy.

"Hang on...alright." Martin removed the blindfold from behind Ruby so that she could see the scenery, which caused the girl to gasp at it.

They were inside a small cove, hidden from the rest of the forest by bright green grass growing on the rocky walls. From the high canopies, sunlight passed through the leaves and landed on the small waterfall's blue water, making it sparkle like a thousand sapphires. A small opening of the land gave access to the ocean's open water, and about 50 feet away, the barrier's golden force field could be seen, and beyond that, Auradon itself.

"It's...it's..." Ruby was too amazed for any words to come out of her mouth as she let Martin guide her through a small stoned staircase that led to a small patch of sand right next to the water. Semifreddo was waiting for them with a picnic basket at hand.

"The rare scrap of land in the entire island to not be evil?" Martin said. "That surprised me as well when I found it."

"Let me guess, you found it while Amelia chased you?"

"Actually, it's _his_ fault." Martin pointed at Semifreddo, who gave some sort of monkey shrug. "Took me almost an entire day to find him after he was afraid to admit that he accidently broke one my monkey vases."

Ruby chuckled. "Semifreddo, you are one evil monkey." The monkey made a sound that probably meant he was flattered until he hopped off, leaving the two to relax and enjoy their small picnic. The monkeys were actually good cooks, which was proven true after Ruby enjoyed the prepared egg salad sandwiches.

"This is the best first picnic I've ever had in my life!" Ruby said happily.

"You mean you've never had one before?" Martin looked up from his glass of root beer in order to see a rather sad looking Ruby.

"No. My mom...didn't have the time, money, or desire to waste on one, even if I wanted to," she sighed. "And I never got the opportunity to do one when I was off on my own for a year."

"Back when you were the Shadow Seeker?"

"Yes." Her voice soured at the memory of her being a toyed mercenary. "And after that as well."

"After that as well? You mean, once you came to the Isle?"

Ruby sighed. She knew that this was about to come: the time when she'd have to tell someone like Martin about how she got arrested.

"You remember after I helped Jim Gordon get you and your dad arrested without me even being aware of it? No reports have been made about the Shadow Seeker ever since. Well, I had decided to quit my mercenary career. Seeing the way I caused people to be put into custody...especially the way I did to you...that was the last straw for me. I shut down my services, put away my Shadow Seeker uniform, and change myself physically and personally. You probably remember that I had longer hair and no piercings on my eyebrows."

"I noticed." Martin nodded, giving her a nod to go on.

"I then tried to bury myself into a civilian lifestyle, using the name that I preferred to use more than my actual name: Ruby. Rebecca was my actual name, but only my mom used it and made it sound like I was a beast rather than a person. People calling me Rebecca makes me think of how I hated my mom treating me the way she did.

"So for the next months, I passed as Ruby, an orphaned teenager with little education who worked cheaply in a pathetic diner at Gotham. I did have a friend or two who did the best they could to help me find a place to live and supplies I needed, but that wasn't enough. I could have tried selling my stolen diamonds and jewelry in exchange for cash, but I might have attracted attention from the cops, and I was terrified of the idea of ending up in the same place as the one of a bunch of people I inadvertently sent, so I stuck to struggling with money.

"I did occasionally run into Franz Schmitz and Madison Hatter at the diner I worked at. I knew them from my mercenary days, and almost everytime I ran into them, Franz kept suggesting that I joined HYDRA and get all the money I could possibly need. Of course, while I was both disgusted by his advances, I didn't want to further expand my criminal record, even if I could receive thousands of cash. So I refused.

"Then...well, I kind of got involved with what villains call a 'reformee'. In this case, it was the son of two antiheroes..."

"Was it Corbeau?" Martin asked without thinking.

"I said it during my sleep, didn't I?" Martin nodded. "Well, I met Corbeau one day at the diner. He was just another customer trying to be friendly with me, but then it led to an actual relationship, which did mean going on a few dates. He seemed so understanding and caring back then...I thought that for once there was a lit candle in my dark life.

"But then, shortly before I got arrested, my amount of money was running low and I was on the verge of being evicted. How could I say no when Madison Hatter called, proposing a cooperation to steal an extremely priceless diamond from a visiting duke in Gotham and split the ten million dollars evenly? I thought, just this once, I'd retake my Shadow Seeker uniform, steal the diamond, get the cash, and finally get an opportunity for a better life.

"It failed, obviously. We barely got the diamond and were getting cornered by the cops. I helped Madison escape, but it was too late for him to help me back. I told him to run away and take the diamond while I dealt with the cops. What I didn't expect was to find Corbeau among the cops. I pulled off my mask and revealed myself, hoping that maybe he'd help me out since he would obviously understand my situation. But...he didn't. All I saw was a neutral face that just allowed the authorities to arrest me. He...didn't even stand up for me when I was on trial! And the most painful part? Right when he gave me one last visit before I was sent to the Isle, I asked him how on Earth he could possibly betray me like that! And he said: 'That's the way it's done.' He said that! To my face!"

Ruby bursted into tears once she was done with her story. Martin grabbed a clean napkin and handed it to her.

"Ruby...I...had no idea," he said as he watched her rub the water leaking out of her hazel eyes. She cried a bit more before taking a deep breath and going back to her calm self.

"It doesn't matter now," she said. "It's ancient history and I paid my price."

"Plus you've found things to care for here, right?" Martin said encouragingly. "I mean, now you have more friends who sincerely care about you, a school where you can learn things you never knew, so many places that you can go to and do things that even a normal person in Auradon could do any day of the week."

Ruby smiled. "You're right. I may not be super evil, but the Isle of The Lost _is_ my home." Martin smiled back before turning his head upward, as if he just heard something suspicious coming. "What is it?"

"I could have sworn I heard something. Wait here." He got on his feet and hopped off, leaving Ruby to watch him swing from branch to branch until he was out of sight. She sighed as she got up and began to walk around the water, staring at her shimmering reflection, and questioning her emotions.

 _Ruby:_ _ **A million thoughts in my head**_

 _ **Should I let my heart keep listening**_

 _ **'Cause up 'til now I've walked the line**_

 _ **Nothing lost but something missing**_

 _ **I can't decide**_

 _ **What's wrong, what's right**_

 _ **Which way should I go?**_

 _ **If only I knew what my heart was telling me**_

 _ **Don't know what I'm feeling**_

 _ **Is this just a dream?**_

 _ **Ah oh, yeah**_

 _ **If only I could read the signs in front of me**_

 _ **I could find the way to who I'm meant to be**_

 _ **Ah oh, if only**_

 _ **If only. If only**_

 _ **Every step, every word,**_

 _ **With every hour I am falling in**_

 _ **To something new, something brave**_

 _ **To someone I, I have never been**_

 _ **I can't decide**_

 _ **What's wrong, what's right**_

 _ **Which way should I go?**_

 _ **If only I knew what my heart was telling me**_

 _ **Don't know what I'm feeling**_

 _ **Is this just a dream?**_

 _ **Ah oh, yeah**_

 _ **If only I could read the signs in front of me**_

 _ **I could find the way to who I'm meant to be**_

 _ **Ah oh, if only**_

 _ **Yeah**_

 _ **Am I crazy? Maybe we could happen**_

 _ **Yeah**_

 _ **Will you still be with me when the magic's all run out?**_

 _ **If only I knew what my heart was telling me**_

 _ **Don't know what I'm feeling**_

 _ **Is this just a dream?**_

 _ **Ah oh...**_

 _ **If only I could read the signs in front of me**_

 _ **I could find the way to who I'm meant to be**_

 _ **Ah oh...**_

 _ **If only, yeah**_ _ **[3x]**_

 _ **If only**_

 _ **If only**_

"HERE COMES THE MONKEY CANNONBALL!" By the time Ruby had stopped singing to herself, she heard Martin shouting and saw him jumping off the waterfall in a ball form. Next thing Ruby knew, a large splash came and water started raining on her.

"You...you said you heard something!" Ruby said rather startled once she saw Martin popping out of the water, including the fact that the only thing he wore was a black swimming trunk.

"I did. I heard an idea telling me to get you out of your sour cat mood and the monkey cannonball just appeared in my genius brain," Martin chuckled. "And guess what? It worked."

"You...you're evil!" Ruby said in an amused tone.

"Welcome to the Isle of The Lost." Martin shrugged.

"Oh...OH! You want me to be evil, huh? OK!" She grabbed a rock and threw it at Martin, who let out an 'ouch!' and was about to ask her what was that for, but by the time he turned back to see Ruby, she was gone. Only the dress she wore was seen lying on the ground. The puzzled monkey boy didn't realize that she had taken the liberty to sneak into the water (while wearing her bathing suit) once he got hit and swim as discreetly as possible towards him until he saw her emerge from the water and spit water on his face.

"What the? How did you?" he said, rather startled.

"Payback called 'Tiger Spit, Monkey Take'," Ruby snickered. "One point for each side!" Frankly, her sneak attack amused Martin and the two eventually began to playfully tackle one another in the water.

"Get back here!" Martin demanded.

"Never!" Ruby laughed at the fun she was having. Martin used one of his monkey feet to grab her ankle underwater and pull her towards him. She was slightly started, especially when she found her self bending on her back while his right arm held her up the same way dance partners did while tangoing in old movies.

"I certainly didn't see that one coming," she said.

"Two for the Monkey Boy?" Martin asked, prompting Ruby to chuckle.

"Two for the Monkey Boy." They laughed a bit before eventually falling silent. Ruby rose a hand and used it to stroke Martin's cheek, which still felt warm despite the fact that the water was cool. Their eyes were locked on one another like two powerful magnets until the arm that held her pulled her closer to him and brought their lips into a deep kiss that got stronger when Martin used both of his arms to hold her closer and Ruby had her hands placed on his chest, feeling his heartbeat beat as fast as hers. She slightly opened her lips even more to let him taste her and melted into a bliss she never thought she'd find.

She was home.


	57. Summoned

Chapter 57: Summoned

"I hate Smarty Mart," Sean grumbled as he pushed the stroller carrying his baby twin sisters Stacy and Millie while following Ingwer, who was pushing the stroller carrying his two-year-old sister Amy, as they walked through the produce aisle of Smarty Mart.

Yes, the Isle of The Lost had a Smarty Mart, which was a nightmare for almost every sane resident. Thanks to the villain Frugal Lucre, who used to work as a Smarty Mart before getting arrested, Auradon had the jolly idea of installing one supermarket of that ghastly supermarket chain so that villains could learn the 'value of discount saving'. The Isle's Smarty Mart was run by Lucre himself, and villains hated shopping there due to the term 'discount saving', which instantly reminded them of heroes. Unfortunately, there was the Isle of The Lost tradition of a series of unfortunate events taking place around the same time every November, which led to almost everybody's favorite shops or places to be closed and to use Smarty Mart as last resort shopping.

"Don't complain, Sean," Ingwer sternly told Ursula's son as she grabbed a plastic bag and began filling it with tomatoes. "We had an agreement: I help you babysit your sisters while your mom's out to take Becky and Mary to the Junior Witches' Convention in midtown and Naomi and Emily are out to see their friends. And in return, you help me get the things I need from Smarty Mart."

"Buh boo!" Stacy stuck her tongue at her big brother while Millie did some sort of baby snicker.

"Shut up," Sean snapped at the infants until he felt a hand slap him. "OUCH! What was that for?"

"For crying out loud, Sean, they're just babies!" Ingwer rolled her eyes as she put the tomatoes underneath Amy's stroller along with the corn, basil, and potatoes that she had collected earlier. "You're treating them as if they came from Hell!"

"They are from Hell!" Sean protested as they proceeded to the seafood aisle. "Yesterday, they did one of their magic baby zaps and destroyed all the 100 dishes out of 50000 from dinner that I struggled to clean! Do you have any idea what it's like to clean dishes in a household full of 20 cecaelias, two of them being male- which apparently is a disgrace for a species that is usually female- and out of the two males, I have the most rotten luck?"

"Well let's see." Ingwer thanked the employee once he handed her the wrapped salmon. "I live in a gingerbread house that's half eaten- courtesy of Hansel and Gretel- and needs to be kept together with copper beams and wooden planks." She grabbed a few ravioli cases as they passed the pasta aisle. "My dad and my uncle Booger are ogres, my mom's the Candy Witch, her sister is a witch who used cigarettes and drugs I don't know the names to lure teenagers, her choice of human meat, and my cousin Boggle is a four-year-old ogre witch hybrid like me who causes mischief by breaking open Mom's cage of live lobsters from the kitchen." They briefly stopped at the toy section and Ingwer got shark plushies for Stacy, Millie, and Amy, who squealed in delight as soon as their favorite babysitter gave them the toys. "While the men in my house mostly spend time eating, sleeping, doing burp contests, or watching Auradonian tourney games live on television, I have to help my mother and my aunt with all the cooking, cleaning, laundry folding, shopping, food delivery, and scooping all the cow and ogre poop in order to make homemade fertilizers for our crops." She put a few Hun rum bottles under the stroller that Sean was pushing before her pink eyes got up to give a serious look at his silvery ones. "I practically live the life of a housewife. Sounds familiar?"

"Gotcha there," Amy said in a small voice.

"You win," he said, dropping his shoulders in defeat. Ingwer gave a small sigh and proceeded to plant a small kiss on his left cheek. Sean Abyss might be the boy she argued the most with in the entire Isle, but she did really like him.

"Chin up a bit, OK?" She said encouragingly as Sean's purple skin blushed. "It's not like the world's gonna end..."

"Ingwer Hexe and Sean Abyss?"

The two teens turned to face three Hun soldiers standing right in front of the strollers. Judging by the looks on their faces, they meant serious business, especially since, as Huns, they were in charge of the law enforcement on the Isle.

"Uh...yes. Can we help you?" Ingwer frowned in confusion.

"Your presence is requested by the Villainous Council," the leader of the Hun Group said.

Sean glared at Ingwer. "You were saying?"

 _Same time, at Vinter's Ice Sculpture Paradise_

"Very good, Fork!" Lord Vinter praised his son as he finished his ice sculpture. Once Forkjølelse was done, he got off his stool and took a few steps back to admire his work. Jane Hook, who had been modeling for him, went to join him in order to admire the view. With his ice powers and skills at ice carving, Forkjølelse had achieved the impossible: sculpting a five foot tall ice sculpture of Jane in a captain uniform while sailing an ice version of the JOLLY ROGER sailing a stormy sea.

"It's amazing, Fork! My dad's gonna love it!" Jane kissed her boyfriend while Lord Vinter chuckled at the sweet scene.

"Jane, sweetheart, as far as I know, your dad likes any ice sculpture of you that I make," the boy said as he broke off the kiss. "But this one is quite a masterpiece, if I can brag..."

"Stop it, chap!" his father laughed as he playfully slapped his son on the shoulder. Like his son, Lord Vinter was tall and sort of stocky and had cedar colored eyes. He wore a Russian snow outfit like his son, only his was a darker blue while Fork's was icy blue. Plus, Lord Vinter had a beard while his son clearly didn't. They both had the same Norwegian accent. "Your mother would be so proud if she saw you right now..."

"Sure, if she wasn't in another meeting with the Council," Fork sighed quietly. His parents had divorced two years after their imprisonment on the Isle when Jadis the White Witch and Lord Vinter realized that their new careers clashing with their parenting duties and responsibilities towards other villains wasn't healthy for them. Fork hated their decision, because now that his mother had more work by working for the Council, she was hardly ever at home in her castle, which made her son feel rather lonely whenever he had to stay there. Which is why he preferred spending time with his father in the ice sculpture shop, the Vinter's Ice Sculpture Paradise, or with his friends.

"Maybe you could send her a picture of the sculpture," Jane tried to cheer up her boyfriend. "That way she can see the great work you did."

"In the meantime, let's put this in the cooling room." Lord Vinter clasped his hands together. "We wouldn't want Captain Hook's birthday gift to melt before the party starts, right?"

"Certain..." Jane's words got cut off when they heard a very familiar sound of sleigh bells coming from outside. The door got bursted open by a cold wind and a tall queen dressed in white and carrying an ice wand and crown stepped in.

"Mother?" Forkjølelse gasped.

"Come with me, my son," the White Witch said. "The Villainous Council wants to see you."

 _Same time, at the house of Proserpine Pitit Fi Anfèr_

"Pròsèrpìnè! Sòmèbòdy wànts tò sèè yòu!" Proserpine's grandmother called from downstairs.

"Còmìng!" the demigoddess shouted from her bedroom. She let out a small groan as she shut her book of Spiritual Villainy closed and stacked her homework together. Why does it always keep happening everytime she did her homework? If her father Hades was sending her another voodoo head from one of the dead souls in Tartarus as a late birthday gift, she'd be bound. Proserpine had enough shrunken heads, talismans, dreamcatchers, and tacky friendship bracelets hanging from her ceiling and almost giving a weird mobile appearance. Honestly, she didn't know why the things hanging above her head haven't disturbed her yet in her slumber.

She cautiously, but quickly, walked down the wooden staircase of the shabby house she lived in with her grandmother, the sole relative she had after her mother's death from giving birth to Proserpine. After passing several voodoo altars, she reached the living room, where she found her grandmother serving tea to a few Hun soldiers.

"Pròsèrpìnè, whàt dìd yòu dò nòw?" the old woman chided her granddaughter once she saw the latter. "Thèsè yòung mèn sày thàt yòu wèrè summònèd by thè Còuncìl!"

 _Same time, at the Fiske Estate_

"...And then Hitler hired me to go hunt down the Ark of the Covenant in Egypt," René Belloq told everyone at the table. "Of course, it was rather tricky at first, since Commander Toht didn't manage to obtain the headpiece from that cursed Dr. Jones, but then again, we eventually found where he located the ark."

A lunch party was being held at the Fiske Estate with almost all the archaeologists that lived on the Isle of The Lost. It was one of those monthly events that Martin Fiske just adored attending with his father: hearing stories of excavations, treasure hunting, and discoveries of idols granting great power from other professionals from the same field as Lord Monkey Fist was better than Christmas and birthdays combined for his son, especially since the latter dreamed of following his father's footsteps in archaeology.

Of course, Martin had cursed himself when he realized he forgot that his father was hosting this month's archaeologist lunch party, so he felt uncomfortable at the idea that Ruby might be bored of spending two hours chatting with and listening to people talking about almost the same topic.

"Don't worry, I'm sure I can handle it," she had reassured him when he told her about the event. "Besides, it's something that you're passionate about and you've already done so much for me. I'll surely be able to put up with it."

"Even if it means being around a bunch of...archaeological geeks?" Martin was nervous of the term he had used.

Ruby had kissed his cheek. "I'm enamored by an archaeological geek right now, remember?" She had told him smugly.

Great Hanuman, how he loved that girl!

And she surprisingly blended in well. With her simple, yet formal black sheath dress, black heels, and silver jewelry, some of the guests had thought she was perhaps the daughter of some sort of baron and didn't take back their words when they were told that she was actually a commoner. Commoner or not, they thought Ruby Kyle had the characteristics worthy of someone from nobility.

The lunch party was going great until the castle's ominous doorbell was heard. Most of the party members were confused; they could have sworn that Lord Monkey Fist had invited every single archaeologist for the lunch party. Bates eventually stepped inside the dining hall to announce the visitor.

"Shan Yu is here, milord," Bates announced. Gasps and whispers were heard: what was the sheriff of the Isle of The Lost doing here? Martin took a quick glance at Ruby, who was beginning to look anxious: the leader of the Huns had been at the hospital during the 'incident' Ruby had with Mulciber and Catwoman and it was he who discussed with Monkey Fist the idea that it would be 'safer and better' if Ruby Kyle were to stay at the Fiske Estate until things were sorted out.

What could Shan Yu possibly want this time?

"Shan Yu." Monkey Fist got up from his seat in order to greet Shan Yu once the latter stepped inside the room. "To what do we owe the honor of today's visit from the Isle's sheriff?"

"Nothing much," Shan Yu said, "but I'd like to ask you permission to quickly borrow your guest, Ms Kyle. It would appear that she has been summoned by the Villainous Council."

The whispers and gasps were increasing. Feeling several eyes staring at her, Ruby silently got up her seat and excused herself from the table before quietly following Shan Yu out of the dining hall and eventually out of the castle on his horse.

"What was that all about, Father?" Martin asked his father by the time the party was over and the guests began leaving.

"With the events going on around us, my son, who knows?" Monkey Fist said solemnly.


	58. Tasked

Chapter 58: Tasked

The Villainous Council usually held its meetings and gatherings at the Head's main house. Until Maleficent's defeat at the hands of her own daughter Mal, the meetings were usually small and held in her house, but now that Professor Moriarty, the Bloody Countess, and Blackfire were in charge, the meetings got larger and were held in their castles.

Today's gathering was held at the Báthory Castle, so Ruby felt only half nervous when she and Shan Yu arrived at the castle and walked through the familiar halls she had seen during the Halloween Gala.

"Am I in trouble, sir?" Ruby asked the Hun Leader as they walked towards a gothic elevator.

"Of course not," Shan Yu reassured her. Once they stepped inside the elevator, he pressed the 13th button. The elevator creaked as it lifted them upward. Not a word was shared between the adult and the teenager for a moment.

"So...how's your daughter Haya doing?" Ruby only knew a bit about his daughter such as her band the Dark Rulers, her undefeatable records at almost every sport, her popularity at Dragon Hall, and the fact that she was now living a better life in Auradon Prep, a boarding school that not many villains wanted to discuss about with their kids.

"She's doing well. She's won the Tourney Cup for the fifth time this season and she's currently planning on going skiing for the winter holidays," Shan Yu said quietly. Judging by the fact that he sounded rather melancholic at the mention of his only child made Ruby decide to say nothing more. He clearly missed his daughter despite being proud of her achievements in a 'goodie-all school' (the way everyone at Dragon Hall called Auradon Prep).

They arrived at the 13th floor, and much to Ruby's surprise, it didn't lead to some sort of fancy hallway full of furniture or doors or plants. No, it led directly inside a large red room primarily occupied by a large, upside down horseshoe shaped table occupied by at least 13 villains. Ruby instantly recognized the three sitting at the table's center in large chairs as Professor Moriarty, the Bloody Countess, and Blackfire, the Heads of the Villainous Council. After quickly glancing at the other nine villains, she recognized the members as Lord Macbeth, Headmaster Facilier, the Evil Queen, Jafar, Cruella De Vil, Captain Hook, Judge Frollo, the White Witch, and Lord Shen. Her eyes went to the five chairs standing in front of the council's table and nearly popped when she saw four of them being occupied by her friends Proserpine, Ingwer, Sean, and Forkjølelse.

"Have a seat," Shan Yu told Ruby while his hand motioned the empty chair next to Proserpine. Ruby silently nodded and went to sit next to Proserpine while Shan Yu went to join his fellow council members at the large table.

"What's going on?" Ruby whispered to Proserpine as she sat down.

"Hòw shòuld Ì knòw?" Proserpine shrugged before spotting what Ruby was wearing underneath her brown trench coat. "Whàt thè Hèll àrè yòu wèàrìng? Yòu lòòk lìkè yòu just gòt òut òf à còcktàìl pàrty."

"I _did_ get out of a cocktail party," Ruby hissed as she straightened herself on her seat.

"Alright, listen up!" Professor Moriarty got everybody's attention after slamming a hammer on the table the same way they did at court cases. Everyone silenced in the room. "Now, as you might all know, we are going under a severe case on the Isle of The Lost. Lately, a number of our young teenage generation has been assaulted." He snapped his fingers and a screen pulled down from the ceiling. A brief symbol of X.A.N.A the malevolent A.I appeared before the pictures of the victims in question were shown. The teenagers in the room winced when they saw familiar faces of close friends or family relatives being on the screen.

"Despite the fact that the...last and only aggressor has been taken care of, the Council has decided that we cannot wait until the possibility of another attack," Blackfire said. She gave a quick glance at Ruby, who stiffened in her seat. Ruby was familiar with the alien queen due to spending so much time with her daughter Noir and occasionally hanging out at their home. Blackfire didn't mind her daughter hanging out with commoners and had no problem with Catwoman's daughter being friends with hers, but for some reason Blackfire always acted strangely around Ruby.

"It's essential that the attacks do not continue," joined in the Bloody Countess. "The King of Auradon has recently heard of some of the first attacks, and has warned the council that if even half of our descendants get attacked before winter comes, then all the villainous descendants will be mandatorily and permanently transferred to Auradon by the beginning of the next year."

Unpleased noises were heard among the council members.

Ingwer got up from her seat. "Force us to leave the Isle? Our home? You can't be serious!"

"Well, they did manage to get Mal's gang, the Dark Rulers, and the crazy French boys," Sean replied drily.

"Pòlyp Bràìns, yòu àrèn't hèlpìng," Proserpine muttered.

"We understand your concern," Moriarty silenced the room. "That is why we are planning to put an end to those attacks." He then addressed the youngsters. "That is where you come in."

"Wait what?" the five descendants said in unison.

Lord Macbeth got up and, with X.A.N.A's help, showed a virtual map of the Isle. "The council figured a connection between two events, the beginning of the attacks and the sudden connection drop of the Everfree Forest, which is located at the far deepest ends of the Infinite Forest of Evil, just at the end of the island. If our theories are correct, the ruler of Everfree, Nightmare Moon, could be behind the attacks."

"Let's not forget that something strange has occurred to the marks of villainy of the victims," the Evil Queen pointed out, "and in the world of people like Nightmare Moon, special marks are quite essential."

"We need _you_ to go into the Infinite Forest of Evil, reach the Everfree Sector, and find out if whether or not Nightmare Moon and her minions are behind the attacks," Blackfire told the youngsters.

"You want _us_ , a bunch of kids, to go into a dangerous forest full of evil forces that could kill us and confront an maniac pony goddess?" Sean exclaimed. "What the Hell?"

"I feared this would come," Frollo shook his head.

"With all due respect," Ruby asked calmly and politely, "if this situation is as serious as you claim, then why do you need us as the diplomats? Why don't you send more efficient professionals like you perhaps?"

"You're flattering, lassie," Captain Hook chuckled before getting serious. "While it's true that the Council is more adept for negotiations between villains, we cannot, for we've become aware of the approach of the Villains Comet..."

"Thè làst tìmè ìt càmè, wè suffèrèd à cèntury òf dàrknèss," Proserpine said solemnly.

"Precisely," Facilier said. "We have to go around the city to warn the residents. Who knows, whoever is behind the attacks could be plotting to use the comet's dark gifts to plunge the world into endless darkness..."

"Maybe even the entire universe!" Cruella piped in.

"And if we were to define 'endless darkness'?" Ruby pushed in.

"The scale of good and evil would break, all life would be extinct," Frollo listed, "holy and unholy will merge into chaotic, nature will go wild, meaningless lives will become meaningful deaths combined into carnage, the seven sins will clash with the seven virtues,..."

"We get it!" Ingwer nearly snapped. "End of the world and of existence itself as we know it!"

"Watch your tongue, witch!" Frollo warned.

"Do you honestly think now's the time for personal perspectives on life?" Lord Shen rolled his eyes at Frollo.

"Aside from the end of life as we know it," Shan Yu went back to the teenagers, "we made a survey of all the villainous students unharmed by the attacks to find the best candidates, and you five made it. With your skills, your heritage, and connections...you are the best team to face the odds and find out the truth that can save us all."

"How can you possibly believe that?"

Everyone silenced as they turned to face the person who asked the question: Ruby.

"Whatever do you mean, Rebecca?" Blackfire asked.

"It's Ruby." The girl seriously hated being called by her birth name. "I understand why you would select my friends here. A demigoddess, a prince, and two witchcraft wielders, each of them with the powers and knowledge they need to face the evil that awaits them in the task. What of me? I'm just a human cat burglar with just a few adamantium claws and no mark of villainy who barely got imprisoned on the Isle of The Lost and accidently murdered the first suspect of this case. How on Earth can you possibly trust me enough to go on such a mission?"

The council said nothing. They perfectly understood the girl's self-doubts about going on the mission, but the survey indicated that she was fit for it. Plus, they could tell her yet about her other little problem...

"We have faith in your potential," the Bloody Countess said despite the fact that Ruby clearly did not looked convinced.

"You'll be heading into the Infinite Forest of Evil tomorrow morning," Moriarty said. "Shan Yu will take you to the Main Borders that separate the villain-inhabited part of the Isle from the forest itself. Once you're in there, you'll be on your own. We're hoping to have you back in less than a month. If not, then we'll fear the worst. Are there any questions?"

"Minus your obvious sense of optimism in your speech, do we even get supplies?" Sean asked.

"Of course. Just proceed to the 6th floor and enter room 66. You'll find the supplies you need there. Good luck!"

The rest of the council gave the youngsters some words of encouragement before Shan Yu led them out through the elevator.

"So when on Earth are we going to spill the beans?" Cruella asked once they made sure that the elevator was out of sight. "We can't wait forever!"

"Now's not the time!" Facilier told her.

"Facilier's right, I'm afraid," Moriarty sighed. "Ms Kyle already has enough issues to deal with and telling her now wouldn't have been the best for her. It's already bad enough that she might be the most targeted of the five during their quest."

"What does Penna De Mort hate about her so much?" the White Witch asked, causing the rest of the council members to shiver at the Devil's name.

"Do we want to know?" Frollo asked in understandable pity.

 _Meanwhile_

"Yòu'rè thè supply pròvìdèrs?" Proserpine asked. Shan Yu had led them to the room where they were supposed to get their supplies for their quest, but the room turned out to be Napoleon Moriarty's advanced, and surprisingly, high-tech fashion design laboratory, and the suppliers in question were Napoleon Moriarty, Noir Du Feu, Sharon Paon Lei, X.E.N.I.A Vi Rus, and Sirenius Dazzle.

"The Infinite Forest of Evil is full of dangers, so you must be well equipped," Shan Yu explained before motioning the suppliers. "Napoleon, Noir, and Sharon have designed the uniforms you would need for the diverse environment you will endure. Noir has worked on the bags that contain your supplies, Sharon worked out the weapons and technological tools with X.E.N.I.A, who has a knowledge of certain monsters that you might face, and Sirenius here is the only one to have managed to go to and come back from the Everfree Sector...once."

"You went to the Everfree Sector?" Ingwer asked Sirenius.

"Just once, when I freaked out about not getting my mark," Sirenius shrugged. "They said that if I ever came back, I'd be stuck as a permanent resident. Nightmare Moon isn't a big fan of visitors, you know."

"I see."

"Fortunately, her son Artemis Nightmare gave me these." He pulled out a scrolled map of the forest and a donut shaped moonstone with a hole in it. "It'll only work once you go through the border and into the forest. And only one of you can use it along the way. But the moonstone will show the trail to follow toward Everfree on the map. Some personal advice and don't take shortcuts. I recommend that Ruby uses it during the quest."

"Why does everybody have such faith in me?" Ruby grumbled.

"Because your one of a kind and Artemis told me that only certain people can use moonstones like these. Don't ask."

Ruby grumbled as she took the map and the stone.

"I put in each of your bags a guidebook for any kind of monster you might encounter depending on which sector you cross into during your quest," X.E.N.I.A said as she showed them a small red handbook that said _Evil Creatures And What You Must Do To Live_.

"Are there any monsters that you're familiar with that you recommend us to avoid?" Fork asked.

"Just one. My father's Scyphozoa," the redheaded humanoid A.I said.

"You mean the giant virtual jellyfish that your dad used to brainwash people or steal their virtual memories?" Sean frowned. "What the heck is it doing in a real life forest?"

"Auradon materialized it as punishment for my father," X.E.N.I.A said grimly. "But it eventually got rogue and had to be exiled in the forest. It's nomadic and doesn't stay in one place, so whatever you do, don't go anywhere near it! It developed powers of its own, so long story short, if you run into it, don't stay and hug it."

"Gòt ìt," Proserpine said.

"Sharon and I took care of the weapons you'll need," X.E.N.I.A continued. "A few electronic tasers, GPS maps, guns, Swiss knives, and the kind of stuff you'd expect a militant to wear. I also took the liberty of inserting homing devices in your uniforms so that the Council can keep track of your process during your trip. Each of you has a locator in your bags that will tell you the wearers' whereabouts and their cardio-beating rates. You know, in case one of you is getting attacked or killed, you'll then be able to find out."

"Looks like some of us will have funerals prepared," Sean remarked. Nobody paid attention to him while Napoleon pulled out something with a button from his pocket and pressed the button. A nearby wall pulled upwards, revealing a glass wall separating the lab from some sort of test room with five mannequins, each occupied by a certain kind of uniform.

"I took care of Proserpine and Forkjølelse's uniforms," he said. Out of nowhere, missiles in the test room began shooting fireballs and freeze rays on the two uniforms in questions (one blue with snowflake designs and one red with flame designs, both with military jackets and boots, utility belts, leather gloves, and cargo pants). Once the shooting was done, the uniforms revealed themselves to be intact. "Comfortable, durable, and totally fire-proof or water-proof depending on which elemental power were talking since the two of you are the only elemental benders in the group. Each utility belt comes with grappling hooks, portable first aid kits, and some of the mini weapons that you we're provided with. And don't worry Fork, I designed the gloves so that you can still use your ice powers even while wearing them."

"Sweet," Fork whistled.

"Ingwer, Sean, I took care of yours," Noir said as she demonstrated the uniforms. They didn't seem so different from what Napoleon came up with, but they had the colors, designs, and attire of what the teens would wear daily. "Your suit was tricky, Sean, but I managed to make it so that your pants can turn into tentacle-fit pants should you ever feel like shifting from two legs to eight. Ingwer, you'll find a thousand well hidden sleeves in your jacket for cooking utensils that won't bother you if you walk around wearing them."

"Now that's handy," Ingwer nodded in approval.

"Best for Ruby," Sharon presented the suit she made for Ruby, who gagged when she saw that hers looked unfortunately like the one she wore as the Shadow Seeker, except it consisted of a black leather jacket, a black ninja garb, black military boots, and leather gloves. And yes, the goggles and mask came as accessories along with a cat-designed utility belt. "I made some modifications based on your old mercenary uniform and turned into an ideal, well-provided, indestructible, and bulletproof uniform meant for a stealthy cat burglar with outside world surviving skills." Missiles in the test room began to shoot at the uniform. Nearly everyone jumped when the explosions occurred but calmed down when they saw that her uniform was unscathed. "And the best part? It breathes like Egyptian cotton, feels like the smoothest Chinese silk, and is completely machine-washable! So, what do you think?"

Ruby's mouth dropped open before she nearly lost it. " _What do I think_? You snooped through my stuff and got info on my past life, which I don't like to remember, and you weaponized it as if you were sending me to face off an army! What the Hell?"

"Hey, don't blame me if your Shadow Seeker uniform was among the clothes I had to select and ship to you when you moved in with the Fiskes!" Noir said defensively.

"Yòu wèrè thè Shàdòw Sèèkèr, Ruby?" Proserpine asked in awe.

" **THE NEXT QUESTION WHO ASKS ME ABOUT MY EX-MERCENARY WORK** **GETS A CHAT WITH MY NAILS!** " Ruby threatened as she held out her hands. The adamantium in her nails shone while the others shook their heads nervously.

"Ms. Kyle, please," Shan Yu put a hand on her shoulder, making her calm down before he addressed the chosen youngsters. "You've gotten your tasks and your supplies. Tomorrow morning, I will personally escort you to the Main Border at 9am. Then you'll be on your own. Hopefully you'll make it back in less than a month. Are their any questions?"

"Do we get to say good-bye to our friends and family?" Ingwer asked. "In case we never see them again?"

"We got the problem solved for friends," Napoleon said. "Fork, old chap, the day has finally come."

"I should have seen it coming," the ice prince sighed. "So, where is it going to take place?"

"By the JOLLY ROGER at sundown tonight. Everyone will be there."

"For what?" Ruby asked.

"For my fake wedding with Jane Hook," Fork answered.


	59. Married

Chapter 59: Married

The Isle Of The Lost had two types of weddings. There was the 'official wedding', which involved a traditional wedding ceremony with Judge Frollo has the minister to ensure that the vows were holy and legal and that the couple stayed united despite future desires of divorce. Since not many villains liked Frollo, not many official weddings were held unless the couple in question was _seriously_ ready to spend the rest of their lives together.

Then there was the 'fake wedding', an invention created by the younger generation that the older villains found more entertaining and joyful than the official one. When two young villains were in love, _especially_ if the spark occurred between them, a fake wedding was held and almost sounded like a preparation should the lovers ever marry officially. The fake wedding was usually more fun, with personalized decorations, casual buffet, music to their liking, and a school friend who acted as the reverend with his own version of the Matrimony Speech.

A good example of a fake wedding was the one of Kory Lokisia, Loki's daughter, and Xaos Sethson, Seth's son. Both demigods had been part of an arranged marriage by their fathers and the couple still ended up with the spark and doing their fake wedding on a fall day two years ago. They did it at the Isle's Central Park, underneath a grove of trees full of falling orange leaves. Macy Beth and her three older brothers had played their own bagpipe version of 'Here Comes The Bride' while the couple were exchanging vows in front of Charles Frollo, who did a good job at being the priest...no surprises there. Friends and family had fun, danced, ate a lot of pizza, and talked about the bachelor's party.

Tonight, on the other hand, was the fake wedding of Forkjølelse Vinter and Jane Hook, which most of the guests found tragic because the groom was going on a fatal quest the next day. The arrangements were done quickly: the ceremony would take place in front of the JOLLY ROGER, friends would sit on one side and family on the other, Sirenius and his band were in charge of the music, the Candy Witch always had a prepared aqua wedding cake with snowflake and pirate skull designs, the bride's family took care of the buffet, and Martin Fiske was the chosen priest.

"You threw one heck of a bachelor party, Martin old chap," Napoleon commented. The latter, who was Fork's best man, was talking about the bachelor party the son of Monkey Fist had thrown with all the preparations he made for surprisingly many years. The party had been a success.

"Thank you. My father and I always made sure to make our bachelor's party memorable."

"In case DNAmy and DNAmelia managed to force you on the altar?" Napoleon got his answer when he saw the monkey boy grimacing and left to check on the groom.

"Will you stop crying, for Pete's sake!" Victoria Doom, the daughter of Doctor Doom, snapped at Edina Lipsky, the daughter of Motor Ed, from one of the guest chairs.

"Dude, weddings always make shade waterworks!" the mechanic, car-obsessed girl said. "Seriously!"

"Here's your boutonniere, Martin." Ruby clipped a black rose on her boyfriend's tuxedo before looking up at him. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, my costume itches," he said flatly. Ruby didn't have to guess that he was lying. Obviously, she knew that Martin was sort of acting sour since he heard about Ruby being chosen to go on a dangerous mission from which she might never return. Their romance and dating relationship was barely a week old and they were going to be separated. Again. The brunette said nothing and quickly kissed her boyfriend's cheek before joining her teammates in the guest zone.

While Martin stood in front of a makeshift altar with a crucified skeleton of Jesus (villains could be not very decent at times, even at weddings), with a paper of his speech in hand, the ceremony began. First came the groom, accompanied by his best man. Fork, the lucky groom, was wearing a white Russian wedding uniform with a blue snowflake badge on his chest. His peanut brown colored hair was tied up in a ponytail and his feet accidently left a trail of ice behind him.

Then came the bridesmaids, all pirate girls dressed in red, and the groomsmen, all icemen wearing black tuxedos. Willa Smee was the flower girl and she walked shyly behind while throwing a trail of black rose petals behind her.

Then it began. Sirenius, Safír, and Sean began playing their version of 'Here Comes The Bride'.

 _Here comes the Bride,_

 _Look at her glowing in pride._

 _She'll soon be with her man._

 _Let's hope their union is human._

 _Here comes the Bride._

 _Here comes the Bride._

Everyone either gasped or sighed when they saw Captain Hook lead his daughter Jane towards the altar. The lucky bride in question was wearing a white sheath dress underneath the white version of her father's coat while her lace gloves were holding a bouquet of black roses. Some pirates whispered of how she looked like her mother during her parents' wedding.

Once the couple and the priest only occupied the altar, the vows began.

"Villains, friends, families, enemies, and other people I don't know," Martin began his speech. Some laughter was heard. "We are gathered here today to join this cold-blooded ice prince and this fragile pirate girl in unholy matrimony."

"Your boyfriend sure made some efforts at making the speech humorous," Noir whispered to Ruby.

"He took five hours to make it up" Ruby whispered back.

"Forkjølelse Vinter, son of White Witch Jadis and Lord Vinter. Despite the very little time you might have left, do you take Jane Elisabeth Margaret Hook to be your beloved and lusted wife against all odds, with sickness and with health, with compromises and truce, and slim chances of taking over the world overall?"

"You're a bit dramatic," Fork muttered before saying out loud: "I do."

"AWWWWWW," the crowd sighed.

"Jane Elisabeth Margaret Hook, daughter of Captain James Hook and the late Co-Captain Emma Swan Hook. Do you take Forkjølelse Vinter to be your treasured husband, with same words listed previously, and vow to love him even if he should ever walk the plank?"

"Fiske, you're the worst wedding priest I've ever met," Jane grumbled in front of the laughing crowd. "But I do."

The crowd sighed as the couple placed their silver rings on their fingers.

"By the Mystical Monkey Power invested in me, I know pronounce you evil husband and wicked wife!" Martin declared. "Go ahead and kiss already! We don't have all night!"

Villains laughed before cheering at the newly, falsely married couple as they kissed. Several girls were beating one another to get the bouquet that Jane had tossed at them. The reception party that followed was rather great, with villains dancing underneath the hanging lanterns with both the band's joyful music and the sound of the bay's crashing waves ringing in their ears.

"Your mother would be so proud, lad," Captain Hook told Jane as they shared a father-daughter dance together.

"Thank you, father."

Meanwhile, Ingwer Hexe stood next to the buffet table, barely lifting her fork on the large cake slice that lay on her plate. She usually had a ferocious appetite and could have easily wolfed down on the wedding cake. But with the recently given quest occupying almost every thought of her brain, she didn't feel like eating.

"Is something troubling you?" the Candy Witch asked her daughter. The witch knew that if her daughter didn't feel like eating (which would be unusual due to her half-ogre heritage), then that meant something was up. The only thing that Ingwer gave her mother was a confused glare with those pinkish purple eyes of hers; a glare that could only mean one thing.

Ingwer didn't know what she was going to do in a place where she wouldn't be able to get council from her beloved mother.

"I believe it's time you used this." Ingwer looked at her mother as the Candy Witch pulled out a rusty copper kitchen spoon out of the apron she wore on special occasions.

"Your magic spoon?" Ingwer asked in surprise. While fairies used things like wands and scepters, a witch could use different objects to cast powerful spells. In the case of the Candy Witch, who came from a long lineage of cannibal witches, her magic spoon was her main tool of spell casting. It symbolized her powers and her nature as a seductress food and sweet treats. "Mom, you seriously trust me enough to bring this on a quest I might never come from?"

"It's time you begin to use your ancestors powers. Use this spoon in dire needs, and don't worry about losing it. The spoon always follows its rightful owner no matter where he or she goes. It followed me even after Hansel and Gretel pushed me in the oven." The Candy Witch placed the kitchen spoon in her daughter's hands before making the latter's fingers fold over the magic utensil. Ingwer clutched the tool in her hands before embracing her mother in a hug while tears were slowly and silently falling down both of their cheeks.

"I'll miss you, Mom," Ingwer cried.

"Stay safe."

While everyone enjoyed as much as they could of the party by the JOLLY ROGER, only one person chose to seclude herself from the festivities in order to walk around the black sandy shores of the bay, feeling the cold water hit on her bare feet, until she found a small, desolate tidal pool with enough rock platforms for her to sit on and watch the distant Auradon as the sky got darker from where she was sitting.

"Not feeling rather festive?"

Ruby turned her head to see Martin walking towards her. He got rid of some parts of his tuxedo and was now only wearing a slightly buttoned white, long-sleeved shirt and black pants. His simian feet had no trouble walking on the rocks in order to join his girlfriend as she got up and dusted her dress.

"I still can't believe they wanted _me_ to go on that quest," Ruby said solemnly.

"Because of the possibility of dying in it?"

"FORGET THE DEATH PART, MARTIN!" she shouted, nearly making Martin fall back. "I'm not fit for this mission, and you of all the people should know it! I just got designated for a task to save all the villains from some sort of evil pony deity -if she turns out to be the real enemy- and 'saving people' isn't something I'm good at. Quite a few villains here have been locked up on the Isle because of my stupidity during my mercenary years, and now the council wants me to go back to being the Shadow Seeker and be like a savior to them! What was their excuse when I asked how they could possibly trust me, _especially_ since I'm the only one in Dragon Hall to not have a mark of villainy yet? Because they trust me! Do you think that _death_ is my problem here? Because I'd be willing to let death take me right now! It should have taken me already when that truck hit me..."

She stopped talking until she felt simian hands grab her arms and shake her rather forcefully as if to wake her up from a trance.

"Don't even think about killing yourself out of insanity in front of me!" Martin said angrily after thirty minutes of shaking her.

"What difference does it make?" Ruby snapped.

"Because I don't want you to end up like my mother!" Martin blurted out. He let go of Ruby before he let his knees fall onto the rocky pavement, his head tilted, and his shadowy grey eyes on the verge of crying.

"Y...Your mother?" Ruby asked, still shaken by what he said.

Martin looked up at her. "I never knew my mother. My father and Bates never wanted to tell me about her, so when I was twelve, after I did some research, I ran away from home to find her. I just wanted to meet her once. I managed to meet her in person, in India. I was so happy to finally meet my mother...but she...didn't treat her the way I imagined."

Ruby looked horrified as he continued. "She refused to see me as her son. She called me another one of Monkey Fist's delusional obsessions and somewhat kidnapped me into a jeep in order to give me away to the authorities so that I could be sent to the Isle. I don't know why she hated my father so much, but...I got so terrified that I broke out of the jeep while we were driving over a tall cliff. A fight occurred and...I pushed her off the cliff. I killed her and got my mark of villainy on that day to scar the guilt and event on me. And when I went back home, my father screamed at me for running away and nearly giving him a heart attack. Bates then told me why my mother hated Monkey Fist so much: they did mutually love one another, but by the time she started to get pregnant, she started to believe that he'd never want to raise a family more than he wanted to be the Ultimate Monkey Master. But he truly wanted both. She wanted to abort, but my father managed to get the legal evidence to reject her abortion demand. So by the time I was born and put in his custody, she left him."

So Martin had a past just as bad as Ruby's: never knowing a parent, an abusive mother that ended up with a bad fate thanks to their children, and guilt overwhelming them for a lifetime.

"Martin..." Ruby felt terrible for her boyfriend. He got up and wiped away the tears off his eyes. While he did that, Ruby managed to see the shadowy grey color of his eyes, so stale and cold looking, that stood out thanks to the black marks underneath his eyes. Now she understood how he got that color: he got the color from his mother, who had been stale and cold towards her son despite barely knowing him for a day. And Ruby thought Catwoman gave her a hard time.

"I'll come back, Martin," she promised her boyfriend as she placed a hand on his cheek. "I'll come back if it's the last thing I do."

"You'd better," Martin's voice trembled as he held onto the soft hand that touched his cheek. The hair on his simian hands nearly tickled Ruby's skin. "After everything I've endured...My parents, imprisonment, Mystical Monkey Power, Dragon Hall, that crazy Sugar Cuddle of Freakness, and Tai Shing Pek Kwar...You're the only thing that I ever really loved, Ruby Kyle."

Ruby smiled, obviously touched by his declaration. Martin reached for something underneath his shirt: some sort of necklace with a thin cord attached to what appeared to be a blue metal shard. He removed the cord from the shard and, much to Ruby's surprise, the shard instantly turned into a ring.

"What the...?" she began.

"Fragment of the Lotus Blade that I managed to clip off with my nails. Don't tell anyone. Even my father doesn't know about it." Martin briefly smirked as he placed the ring on Ruby's index finger.

"Now, hold on a bit, Martin!" Ruby both exclaimed and giggled.

"Relax, Tough Tigress," he chuckled while using the pet name he usually gave Ruby. "I'm not proposing. Too soon, anyway. No, I want you to keep this on with you when you go on your quest so that you remember your promise...and never forget me."

"Oh, Martin." Ruby glanced at the ring on her finger. The entire jewelry was light blue with small hints of dark blue vine carvings around the hoop, and the lighter blue stone in mounting was shaped like the monkey from Martin's mark of villainy. "I'll treasure it."

"Stay on your feet when your out there," Martin warned. "And whatever you do, **don't** come face to face with King Louie and his Bander-Logs..."

Ruby frowned. "I thought that King Louie was a good guy living in Auradon? And aren't you supposed to like anything that's monkeyish?"

"He got his two personas split in half," Martin explained. "There's one half that's Louie King, the jazz-loving, good-humored man who both runs a radio station in Auradon and apparently teaches music in Auradon Prep from what I heard. Then, there's _King Louie_ , the power-hungry, malicious monkey king who's obsessed with fire. My father had a...bad encounter with him before becoming Monkey Fist."

"I see."

"This is serious, Ruby. King Louie is not someone you want to mess with. You're the only human in the group, and to King Louie, being human means having knowledge of the flower he seeks. If he finds out about you going in the Infinite Forest of Evil, he'll obviously send his minions after you and bring you to him. Don't let his temptations get to you!"

"I won't. Besides, that monkey king can't steal me away from my monkey boy," Ruby joked.

Martin shook his head in amusement. "Very funny." They laughed a bit for a while before silence resumed and, as the waves crashed on the tidal pool, he pulled her into another one of their passionate kisses. Ruby let out a small moan, which granted Martin an opening to taste her familiar creamy vanilla and strawberry flavor even more. While Ruby's arms were busy resting on Martin's shoulders, his hands were placed on her waist until they decided to slide up her back and reach the zipper of her dress. They paused and slightly tugged the fabric, waiting for permission from their owner's lover, who made a head nodding gesture during the kissing. The cool air of November hit Ruby's bare back as Martin slowly brought down the zipper with one hand while the other was busy caressing the soft, exposed skin. Each kiss kept receiving a pleasured moan from Ruby at his touch and he reached the zipper's end, proceeding to use both hands to start pulling away the remaining fabric...

"Àhèm!" a voice said.

The lovebirds stopped their kissing and touching in order to see who had dared to interrupt them. Their cheeks blushed when they saw Proserpine standing there, her skull-heeled shoes tapping on the rocky pavement while she stared at the couple with amusement and disbelief and her hands rested on her hips.

"Ìf yòu twò àrè gòìng tò gèt thìs ìntìmàtè, Ì àdvìsè yòu tò dò thìs pròpèrly ìn à bèd ànd nòt òut hèrè ìn thè òpèn whèrè àny ònè ìn Àuràdòn còuld sèè yòu thròugh à tèlèscòpè," she told them. "Thè pàrty's òver ànd Fòrk ànd Jàne àrè àbòut tò lèàve òn thèìr nìght-ònly hòneymòòn."

"We'll be there," Ruby assured Proserpine while being unable to hide her grumbles as she re-zipped her dress back up. Out of all the celibate voodoo priests on the Isle, the daughter of Hades had to take delight in disturbing romantic moments. Ruby glanced at Martin, who shared mutual annoyance, as they followed Proserpine back to the JOLLY ROGER, totally unaware that, from the darkness of the Infinite Forest of Evil, someone was actually spying them through a telescope.


	60. Began

Chapter 60: Began

"Ruby, just hòw busy wèrè yòu ànd Mònkèy Bòy làst nìght?" Proserpine finally cut the silence. It was around eight in the morning and Shan Yu had picked up the Chosen Five from their homes and was now driving them across town and through the Hun territory in order to reach the Main Border.

No one had said anything until now, mostly out of anxiety concerning their mission, and to think that in less than a few minutes, they would be left in the Infinite Forest of Evil after exiting the Hun territory, the last sign of civilization that any villain would see should they ever go into the cursed forest, and be expected to come back alive from Nightmare Moon's territory in less than a month.

"What the Hell, Proserpine?" Ruby snapped. Out of all the members in the group, she was the most anxious and grumpiest. Questions were still circling in her head: why the Hell did the Villainous Council want _her_ to be a part of the mission? Why was life so cruel to want her to return into the Shadow Seeker? (She kept the goggles and mask that Sharon had designed for her uniform in her bag despite personally not wanting to wear them.) And the one question she dreaded answering: would she ever go back to Martin?

Proserpine's blunt question wasn't out of context. Apparently, parts of her skin had faint, but still easy to smell, hints of Earl Grey Fragrance, a cologne that Caron Du Parfum, the son of Princess Fragrance and Nora Belartiste's foster brother, crafted and sold to Martin Fiske, the only known buyer of that Earl Grey-scented cologne in Dragon Hall. Ingwer, Forkjølelse, Sean, and Shan Yu could easily guess that the son of Monkey Fist and Catwoman's daughter had shared quite a farewell last night but none chose to speak of it for the sake of Ruby's comfort.

"Here we are," Shan Yu said after driving through a few streets and parking the jeep.

The five teenagers and Shan Yu got out of the jeep in order to get a view of the Main Borders, which looked much higher than the Great Wall of China and was built of pure concrete, metal, and what seemed to be vibranium combined. Barbed wires nearly as high as a grizzly bear crowned the wall, and the teenagers could see sparks flying through them, indicating that the wires were electrocuted. Tanks, gun providers, and other sorts of security weapons were placed at the wall's roots and carefully using the supplies as if they were going to explode.

"OK, this is a bit severe," Sean commented as he nervously stared at what laid ahead.

"Looks like we're in deep. I'm starting to think that you're more worried about keeping the forest out of the city than keeping the city away from the forest," Ruby told Shan Yu.

"That doesn't make sense," Sean cut in.

"Spend more time having the Huns as your next door neighbors and you'll understand," Fork told him.

"The Main Borders were built during the first years of the Isle of the Lost," Shan Yu explained as they walked towards the wall, which seemed to get bigger the closer someone got to it. "Auradon didn't realize back then that some of the evil forces of nature and monsters were too much for even villains like us. In a way, the Infinite Forest of Evil is like a prison within the island prison...only much worse."

"The irony," Ruby said.

They stopped once they arrived in front of a gate nearly twice the height and size of Shan Yu and heavily guarded. "Once this gate opens, you will step through a small tunnel and the gate will lock behind you, leading to another gate at the end of the tunnel to open and lead you right into the forest. Once _that_ gate closes..."

"We're on our own," they all said in unison.

Shan Yu nodded. He then ordered the guards to open the gates, which severely creaked and moved ominously as it did. Most of the Chosen Five clung onto their backpacks and gulped when a dark tunnel lay before them. This was it. Now came the moment where they took all the courage their guts had and began walking inside the tunnel.

Ruby was the last one to go into the tunnel, for she stopped to have a few words with Shan Yu.

"You do know that I never bought your entire 'Villainous Council having faith in me' from the start, right?" she frowned at the sheriff.

"I know," Shan Yu sighed. "I know you wish to know the full truth, but all I can tell you is that we've only be trying to protect _you_ ever since you put your foot in the Isle of The Lost."

Before Ruby could say anything, he gave her a brief, but warm hug and placed one of those kisses on foreheads that only fathers gave. Shan Yu then let go of Ruby and gently led her back into the tunnel. The girl could have sworn seeing a tear fall out of one of the Hun's eyes before the gates officially separated the teenagers from civilization and left them out into the Infinite Forest of Evil. So far, it looked like there was nothing but large trees, twisted branches, and foggy horizons.

"Wèll, lèt's gèt stàrtèd." Proserpine rubbed her hands together and tried to sound positive. "Ruby, dò yòu hàvè thè mòònstònè ànd thè màp?"

Ruby nodded and pulled out the tools in question from her bag. She held the moonstone in her right hand and looked at the map through the rock's hole: she was stunned to see a trail illustrated with moons and stars appear on the map and giving her the first directions by magic. A blue cross on the map showed their current location.

"We need to go straight and then through Maleficent's thorn forest for starters," she said as she put the map and moonstone back in her backpack.

"Jolly," Sean mumbled. "We're going to be screaming and pulling thorns out of our backs by the time we get out of there."

 _Around 2pm_

"PÒLYPS BRÀÌNS, Ì CURSÈ YÒU ÀND YÒUR PRÈDÌCTÌÒNS!" Proserpine screamed by the time the group stopped running and paused to breathe frantically.

So far, the trip had been terrible: they ran into a few muskegs that were so sticky and literally made of mud related to quicksand. Sean and his tentacles would have nearly drowned if Ingwer hadn't used her cooking skills and dried out the muskeg using Proserpine's pyrokinetic skills (for some reason, Ingwer kept her distance when Proserpine created fire). Then, Ursula's son had been stupid enough to provoke a nest full of tracker jackers and the quintet had to run for their lives to avoid the mutated wasps' sting, nearly sending the group of their trail.

Finally, there was Maleficent's thorn forest, which made the teenagers wonder for the first time in their lives why the Hell did the Mistress of Evil decide to create such a piece of crap that was literally alive and kept moving and slashing at them, nearly trapping them in a web made of thorns and vines. Ruby nearly had a heart attack when one of the vines had dared to go underneath her shirt while trying to pin her to the ground.

"I say we take a break," Ingwer suggested as she struggled to pluck off the thorns on her arm. "It's almost late in the afternoon and all this frantic running has tired us. We could at least rest and eat a bit before heading back on the trail until nightfall."

"A good idea, Ingwer," Fork yelped when Ruby rather painfully pulled away a thorn that was way too close to the back of his neck. "Honestly, I don't know how far I can go with all those thorns stabbing my back like ten spinning wheel spindles!"

"Speaking of how far we went, exactly where are we?"

The teenagers had a glimpse of their new surroundings: they had gone from plain dead tree forests, muskegs, and thorny nightmare to what appeared to be a large jungle. The trees that surrounded them were thicker and had larger, more populated branches that looked more like they slithered than twisted. Creepy noises of jungle animals filled the air and did not make the atmosphere feel any better for the group.

"The map says were in an Indian Jungle." Ruby glanced at her map with the moonstone before looking up and saying drily. "How exciting. If we're lucky, we'll be spending almost a week going through this jungle."

"You guys want me to climb a tree and maybe have a better view or something?" Sean volunteered and pointed at the nearest tallest tree.

"Ànd hòw wìll thìs màkè òur sìtuàtìòn àny bèttèr?" Proserpine asked him.

"Like you have a better idea?" His flat question made her shut up. "Look, I'll just go up a few branches and come back down if I find anything at all. One of you guys could use one of those locators that X.E.N.I.A provided us with to see if I'm getting attacked or not."

Proserpine exchanged glances with the other three. Judging by the fact that they could only rely on one another during their dangerous mission, getting separated would be fatal. But Sean had made a point: a quick scouting of the local area could be useful. And the others would check on a locator to see if whether or not he was being attacked.

"Just dòn't dò sòmèthìng stupìd," Proserpine muttered. "ÒK, Pòlyp Bràìns?"

"Alright," Sean grunted as he began to climb the nearest tree with ease until he disappeared into its dark canopy. Fork took out the locator from his backpack. The tool looked like a black graphic calculator with only six buttons, five of them containing the names of the teenagers and a red one that read 'LETHAL BUTTON! DO NOT PUSH UNLESS YOUR DESPERATE!'

Fork pressed the green button with the words SEAN ABYSS on it. The grey screen flickered until it showed a graphic function of a normal heartbeat rate per minute for a cecaelia like Sean.

"So far, Sean's doing fine," the ice prince said.

They began resting a bit. Proserpine meditated in the hopes of getting her father's protection while Fork was busy sharpening some sort of stone dagger that the White Witch had given him before the quest began. Ingwer, in the meantime, was busy collecting ingredients from her set of supplies in order to cook some cangee (fish soup). Just as she was about to chop a full salmon, she noticed Ruby sitting in a curled position, fidgeting her fingers over some sort of ring that she had on her bare index finger (she had removed her glove in order to uncover the ring). A look of distraught was visible on her face.

"It's a nice ring," Ingwer tried to cheer up Ruby, who looked at the young witch once the latter began speaking. "Did Martin give it to you?"

Ruby sighed: "Yeah...I miss the Fiskes."

Ingwer frowned as she diced the salmon. "The Fiskes? You also miss Martin's dad, the valet, and the monkey ninjas?"

"They were caring towards me," Ruby answered. "Bates was nice to me ever since he took me to their home the first time in order to tend my injuries from the pythonaconda. The monkey ninjas..." She chuckled. "They still made me laugh even after they attempted to set me up with Martin. Semifreddo was my favorite." Ingwer chuckled as well: she had heard the stories of Martin's matchmaking monkey minions.

"And Monkey Fist...I sort of saw him like a father." Ruby's words brought Ingwer back to reality.

"You saw your boyfriend's dad as a paternal figure?" Ingwer frowned as she nervously lit a small fire underneath her portable cauldron with a match.

"You know I grew up with my mom, Catwoman, ever since I was born. But I never knew my dad. That's why I kind of envy some of the VKs like you, Proserpine, Fork, and everyone else who's got one. You can imagine what it's like for me, seeing others spent time with their fathers...even the abusive ones, those who tell him they're failures, or unworthy of such evil legacy this or such bad luck that! Even the fact that Charles Frollo had such a jerk like Frollo as his sole parent until Charles went to Auradon makes me jealous!" Ruby took a deep breath and calmed down. "And then...you know...Monkey Fist had treated me just as nicely as Bates did, maybe even more than any adult has ever done for me..."

"Not to mention that he had noting against you, a commoner, being in a relationship with his son, a disgustingly rich son of a British lord," Fork joined the girls by the cooking cauldron once he was done sharpening his dagger. "I mean, my own mother had a hard time at first accepting that I fell in love with a pirate girl...Hypocritical, I know, but then she gave up."

Ruby smirked at the indirect hints of comfort she was receiving from her friends.

"But hasn't your mom ever told you about your father?" Fork then asked her. "If not, have you ever tried digging information about him?"

Ruby's face darkened as she put her glove back on. "I tried to ask my mom once when I was little, but she yelled at me that he abandoned her and ruined her life by leaving me with her. Eventually, I grew up accepting the fact that my dad was the one person I would never get to meet in person..."

The trio stopped their conversation when they heard a strange crunching sound similar to crumbling paper. They looked to see Proserpine, standing frozen.

"Pro? What's wrong?" Fork asked.

"Dòn't frèàk òut, but Ì thìnk Ì stèppèd òn sòmèthìng," the daughter of Hades said quietly. The others got up to join her and watched as she slowly looked down at her feet and stepped back carefully. Ruby knelt down and pulled up the thing that Proserpine had stepped on.

A large, sick green-colored snakeskin that was big enough to put two of the teenagers in there and use the skin as a sleeping bag.

"Pythonaconda?" Ruby asked. She passed the skin to Proserpine, who placed a finger on it before sucking her finger in her mouth and spitting.

"Wòrsè." Her eyebrows frowned. "À bàsìlìsk."

A horrid, slow beeping came from Fork's locator.

"Ànd Ì bèt ìt's òut fòr dìnnèr."

 _What was happening to Sean all along?_

As much as Sean hated doing the chores for every single female relative back at home, he grew to loathe the insane canopy of the jungle.

Back in his freshman year at Dragon Hall, he had been tricked by a senior into helping the latter in a Magic Dealology homework assignment, and part of the homework was to solve the labyrinth owned by Crystal Maze's father, Jareth, in lesser time than the usual thirteen hours. Memories of running through endless passages, left turns, and booby traps that kept changing and appearing out of nowhere for almost a day had been occupying a third of Sean's nightmares. And going through the canopy's maze of large branches, snake-like twigs and vines that could come to life whenever they wanted, and the sudden grayness of the atmosphere the more Sean scouted the canopy did _not_ help.

A branch cracking made Sean stop on his feet.

"Hello?" he asked nervously. Sweat began to appear on his purple skin. "Who's out there?"

" _Hi there_."

Sean jumped at the voice. It appeared out of nowhere and suddenly spoke in a dark, sinister, yet seductive tone. Good lord, he hoped it wasn't a siren!

" _Oh no, don't be scared!_ " the voice said, as if to try reassuring the son of Ursula. " _I'm not going to hurt you._ " Despite the soothing voice's words, hearing the strange sounds of something...moving in the branches did not reassure Sean.

"I was just passing through." He tried to regain courage. "I don't want any trouble."

" _There's no trouble. But...are you alone out here? Oh, that's not good! We should never be alone!_ "

 _And I realize that just now!_ Sean scolded himself. Why did he never bother to take Proserpine's words seriously?

He then felt a presence. His eyes dared to look up and see a teenager girl who could have been around his age, dressed in a black cardigan shirt, a green pencil skirt, white knee-high heeled boots with red feathers glued to the heels' backs, black fingerless gloves, and a bracelet with an attached fang to it. But...for some reason...Sean was unable to notice the girl's unusual white paled face that contrasted with the rest of her body and tail's green reptile scales and sharp spikes, her long black-green-and-sky-blue hair, and those golden snake irises and green sclera that her eyes had.

" _I'll keep you safe_ ," she said. " _Just you and me, sweet thing._ "

"I...I..." Sean could feel his body weakening and his senses getting fuzzy.

" _I won't let harm get in the way_ ," the reptilian girl continued to use her seductive words to weaken Sean even further. " _Let go of your fear now..."_

"SEAN!" An ice elevator burst into the canopy and Sean's friends got on the spot.

"Sean!" Ingwer screamed again.

"Thè bàsìlìsk!" Proserpine shouted.

But it seemed too late: Sean was weakened and nearly unconscious. The basilisk grinned as his body began to fall onto the surface of the branch they were all standing on and began to raise her hand in the air, preparing to impale him with her claws.

" _And trust..._ " she hissed, " _...in me..._ "

" **HOLD IT, BLOODYLE!** "

Out of nowhere, a Caucasian, gothic teen with green streaks on his black hair jumped from out of nowhere and tackled the basilisk (whom he knew as Bloodyle) while Ingwer and the others rushed to wake up Sean and get him back on his feet.

"We have to go!" Fork urged.

"YOU TREACHEROUS SNAKE!" They turned to see Bloodyle screaming at Sean's savior.

"Karlos Python?!" Ingwer asked.

"The son of Kaa just saved my skin," Sean muttered. "Well that's a new twist..."

He didn't get to finish his sentence, for Bloodyle and Karlos Python had suddenly transformed into the snake appearances of their respective natures: a basilisk big enough to fit within the Cruella-teria and a monstrous-sized Indian rock python barely one inch bigger than a pythonaconda. The teenagers watched in awe and horror as the large snakes fought, hissed, and tried to sink their fangs at one another. The duel eventually led to the beasts crashing through the branches and back on the main ground. If Sean hadn't used his tentacles to swing himself and his friends out of the way, then they would have died crushed by either the battling snakes or the falling branches.

"Wè hàvè tò gèt òut òf hèrè!" Proserpine told the others. No one argued there and instantly rushed to get their belongings.

" **AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!** "

They looked at the dueling snakes as they morphed make to their humanoid selves. Horror filled the teenager's faces when they saw Karlos Python groaning and screaming in pain as his hands clutched a ghastly, bloody opening on the left side of his rib cage.

"She bit him!" Ingwer exclaimed. "Karlos is gonna die from her venomous fangs!"

"We can't just leave him here!" Sean said. "He saved me!"

"Yèàh, ànd nòw wè gòt tò sàvè òur òwn skìns!" Proserpine snapped.

" _Finally!_ " Bloodyle hissed triumphantly as she stood in front of a pained Karlos. " _For your treason towards the Mistress, your head will pay the price!_ "

"I...never was...and never will be...her slave!" Karlos spat some blood out of his mouth.

"Uh, guys?" Fork suddenly realized. "Where's Ruby?"

Just then, a new shrilling scream was heard. A rather non-human one, to be exact. The four teens and a feeble Karlos stared in complete shock at the sight in front of them:

Ruby Kyle had jumped from a branch, landed on Bloodyle's shoulders, and sunk her adamantium nails right into the basilisk's eyes.

" **MY EYES!** " Bloodyle screamed even louder than Karlos. Ruby managed to jump off before Bloodyle covered her eyes bleeding with green blood.

"GRAB KARLOS AND LET'S GO!" Ruby shouted at Sean. He nodded and rushed to lift Karlos in his arms.

"RUBY, YOU'RE INSANE!" Ingwer screamed as they all ran away deeper in the jungle, with Sean still carrying Karlos in his arms, and Bloodyle screaming behind their backs and into the sky.

" **CURSE YOU, YOU FILTHY MUGGLE! CURSE YOU AND YOUR FILTHY BLOOD! MY MISTRESS WILL KILL YOU MORE THAN SHE ALREADY DESIRES TO!** "


	61. Owed

Chapter 61: Owed

It was sundown by the time the group collapsed by a creek within the jungle from all the intense running. Sean had to make sure that Karlos Python was safely placed on the solid ground before falling down as well.

"Day one of our grand adventure: we kept running," Fork muttered as he gasped for air.

"Proserpine, do you think you can fix his ribs?" Ingwer asked Proserpine while the two girls struggled to make Karlos Python lay on his back while he was groaning in pain from the severe side back that Bloodyle had given him. It took almost five minutes for Proserpine to pull his hands away from the wound so that she could have a better look at it.

"Thè cràcks àrè dèèp, but wìth sòmè prèssurè, Ì càn fìx 'èm," Proserpine said. She stretched her knuckles and, before anyone could say anything, pressed her hands rather violently on the injured side of Karlos, who screamed even louder than usual as a death white aura emerged from Proserpine's hands and healed his ribs and bitten skin. A nearby flock of ravens flew away from the sounds of his screams.

" _This_ is the son of Kaa the Python?" Ruby asked in disbelief as she knelt by the creek in order to wash off the blood sticking on her adamantium nails.

"A complete wimp back in Dragon Hall," Sean said. He pulled out a canteen from his backpack. "He always creeps in the shadows in order to avoid getting noticed."

"But what the heck is he doing in the forest?" Ruby wiped off her now clean nails.

"As far as anyone knows, snakes are the only things allowed to roam between the city and the Infinite Forest of Evil. Probably because of Penna De Mort's superiority..." Fork shivered as he mentioned Voldemort's daughter.

"Wait a second!" Ruby snapped her fingers. "Crystal told me that Penna De Mort resided in the deepest parts of the Infinite Forest of Evil! When the pythonaconda attacked me last month, it slithered back to the forest through a patch of trees I saw at the end of the Kraken Trail!" She took out her map and moonstone and examined it before putting her finger on a spot in the map. "The old Mount Vesuvius, just north from here! The Everfree Sector is literally bordering the area occupied by Riddle Graveyard Post. If we follow the trail's northern route from this jungle, we could reach Everfree and Nightmare Moon in less than ten days, thus avoiding the one month deadline!"

" _You want to approach De Mort's territory? JUST HOW MAD ARE YOU?_ "

The teens nearly jumped: Karlos Python was now cured and literally screaming the nerves out of their ears.

" _Get off me!_ " he snapped at Proserpine, literally pushing her away from him and making Ingwer catch her before the demigoddess could trip on a rock.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Sean told Karlos as the latter cupped his hands in the creek's waters and gulped it all in his mouth like the drunk lunatics at the Legume Tavern. "She just saved your life!"

" _And I just saved yours,_ " Karlos turned to look at Sean. " _I don't need to be nice now that we're even._ "

Unlike Bloodyle, the first humanoid basilisk that the quintet ever encountered, Karlos certainly looked more like a sixteen-year-old human boy with Caucasian skin, black shoulder-length hair with lime green streaks on the right side, small nose, fair lips, and slender body. He wore some sort of black gothic tuxedo suit with a yellow shirt underneath, a lime green tie, and green diamond patterns running up and down the sides of his pants. He wore black harness boots with green harnesses and the heels shaped like the tail of a green snake, along with spike bracelets on his calves just above the boots. Green serpentine earrings were slithering through his ears. The right half of his face was covered with a pattern similar to those on his pants, most likely his mark of villainy. The only thing that appeared snake-like about Karlos were his green python eyes, his forked tongue, and his voice, which sounded like a less frightening, but annoying version of Bloodyle's voice full of hisses.

"If you sound so annoyed about Proserpine healing you and us saving you from that basilisk, then why did you bother saving Sean in the first place?" Ingwer pointed a finger at Karlos, who slapped it away, much to Ingwer's shock.

" _Personal ideology reasons_ ," he said.

"Excuse me?" Ruby asked while trying to avoid aggravating the situation. "I'm not sure I understand what you..." She stopped when she noticed that Karlos had managed to slither towards and stand in front of her without her even noticing.

" _It's not too difficult to understand, sweetie. In the Infinite Forest of Evil, only two things matter for monsters whenever it comes to the cat and mouse game: survival or sport. Maybe both. Basilisks like Bloodyle Silisk are the monsters who prefer to be the cats that chase the mice , catch them, and kill them in one blow before leaving the corpse to rot for the vultures._ " He circled around Ruby, eyeing her like a critic observing the dish the waiter served him at a restaurant. " _I, on the other hand, prefer to hunt for survival._ " He hopped off the ground and landed on a branch, where he lied on it as if he were the Cheshire Cat instead of Kaa's son. " _Let's say for instance I was the one in Bloodyle's stead: my only interest in the cecaelia boy would have been to satisfy my growling stomach and swallow him in less than a gulp. You have to admit, it would have been rather merciful._ "

" **Merciful?** " Ingwer's cheeks burned with a lava red hue. "Because dying eaten would be any better than dying for someone's amusement from your perspective?"

" _Frankly, for me I'd rather die eaten than dying at the hands of Penna De Mort_." Karlos' snake hissing voice suddenly become more serious as he briefly turned into his python-self and slithered down from his tree before facing the group in his human form. " _Which is why I asked you if you were mad enough to risk going to De Mort's,_ " he told Ruby.

"Let me guess: it would be suicide?" Ruby asked.

" _Precisely_."

"Well, sorry to burst your bubble, pal, but we've already been told that we'd be risking our lives just to go to Everfree and come back. I might not be like you and worry about saving my own hide, but I got people relying on me and I'm not the kind of person who turns my back on others. But then again, I suppose your boss Penna doesn't have such morals..."

" **SHE'S NOT MY BOSS!** " Karlos shouted as he grabbed Ruby by her jacket's collar and pulled her towards him so that only a few inches could separate her from her hazel eyes and his green snake ones and, unfortunately, the scent of dead rats coming from his breath.

"RUBY!" shouted Ingwer. She and the others were about to attack Karlos with their own weapons. The python-boy turned his head towards them and blinked his eyes at them, provoking a flash of green light to come out of his eyes and petrify Ingwer, Sean, Proserpine, and Forkjølelse like statues as a green halo surrounded them.

"What have you done to my friends?" Ruby demanded.

"Don't forget I'm the son of Kaa! I've inherited my father's skills in hypnosis and mind-power!" Karlos warned her. "And if you insinuate that I'm one of De Mort's loyalists, I'll be making sure that you willingly walk into my mouth as a midnight snack!"

"Well how was I supposed to know?" Ruby protested as she thrusted her hands in the air. "Everybody tells me that all snakes support Penna, how was I supposed to know that you hate her?"

" _She murdered my parents_."

Ruby froze, feeling a chill running down her spine. "W...what?"

" _Right. Why trust a snake's words...when you can see for yourself?_ " The next thing that Ruby knew, she was stuck staring at Karlos' snake eyes, which had rings of diverse green gradients increasing and increasing in his eyes. The world around Ruby hazed up around her until she saw flashes of some sort of scene. It...it looked like some sort of woman desperately trying to make her three-year-old son run as fast as her while her firm hand held his small one. The mother and son were desperately running through an intense amount of snow through woods in order to reach what appeared to be a small chapel not too far from the Hun territory.

' _Camlo, hurry!'_ the mother told her son while some sort of demonic shadow loomed behind them.

' _Mommy, I'm scared..._ '

' _Camlo, we're almost there! We'll be safe once we reach your half-brother and his father!'_

A new scene appeared: just ahead of the woman and her son, two people stood by a chapel, a forty-year-old men and a five-year-old boy that Ruby immediately recognized as a younger Karlos Python, and judging by the striking appearance between Younger Karlos and the man with him, it must have been his father Kaa.

' _Will mum make it with my brother?'_ Younger Karlos asked his father as the snow fell.

' _Trust in me, son. They'll make it. Look! I see them coming!'_ He pointed at the horizon, from which the woman was running from while the chasing shadow got closer. The woman was carrying her son in her arms in order to gain speed.

' _Tradaria! Over here!'_ Kaa rushed towards the woman he named Tradaria.

' _Kaa! She's after my son Camlo! Take him! Hurry!'_

' _Hang on, Tradaria!'_

' _Hurr..._ '

' **AVADA KEDAVRA!** '

A large green flash came, nearly blinding Ruby from the vision. When things cleared up, she gasped in horror when she saw Kaa and Tradaria lying in the snow, deader than tombstones. The blow had knocked Karlos onto a wall and was briefly unconscious until he woke up and saw Penna De Mort, still as youthful as she was in the present, leaning towards Camlo as he desperately cried for his mother to wake up. The terror in his eyes was visible as Penna smirked evilly and was about to reach for the child.

' _Come to me, little boy,_ ' she said temptingly. ' _I'll raise you as my own and teach you my evil ways_.'

Penna De Mort wanted to take Camlo and make the child her slave! But for what purpose? Younger Karlos struggled to get on his feet; obviously, he was planning to run towards Penna and tell her to get away from his half-brother, but he stopped when he saw a dark man riding a dark horse into the scene and violently separating Penna De Mort from the boy.

' _Stay away from my son, witch!_ ' he angrily told her.

' _Papa!_ ' Camlo had screamed as he rushed to hug his father, who, much to Ruby's surprise, was none other than Frollo. But, then that meant...No, it couldn't be!

' **OBLIVIATE!** ' Penna shouted, creating a shockwave that spread over the entire Isle and caused Camlo to fall unconscious into the snow rather than his father's protective arms. As if knowing that he should get out of here for now, Younger Karlos managed to hide in behind the wall where he had landed on and watch from the shadows.

' _My son!_ ' Frollo knelt on the snow and hugged the unconscious Camlo tightly in his arms before glaring at Penna. ' _What unholy deed have you done to him?_ '

' _I casted a memory-altering curse over him and the entire Isle to cover myself as the murder and almost kidnapper. From now on, everybody, including your son, will believe you are the monster who murdered your ex-lover and whore and was about to kill her offspring, your own son, until Shan Yu and his Huns arrive in less than a few minutes. And believe me, who could do such a thing to the leader of the dark gypsies and her disgusting hybrid child than the anti-gypsy villain number one on the Isle of the Lost?'_

' _You evil soul!_ ' Frollo spat.

' _You just noticed?_ ' Penna prepared to fly off before telling Frollo one more thing: ' _By the way, if you even try to convince others that I'm the real deal, if you don't follow my orders on how to shape up your disgusting half-blood, or if I find out that you try to hide him away from me, I_ _ **will**_ _kill your son...without my Killing Curse!'_

Penna De Mort flew off as the vision blurred and Frollo whimpered tearfully the word 'Charles' while the Huns approached and Younger Karlos, from his shadows, had a bitter look that turned into hatred as he watched the true culprit leave.

"Charles Frollo, Frollo's half-gypsy son...is _your brother_?" Ruby exclaimed in shock once she came back to reality.

" _Tradaria, the queen of the dark gypsies, was the mother we shared. I was born two years before Camlo -that was Charles' gypsy name given by Tradaria. Initially, Tradaria only married Frollo as part of a plot to get closer to the main enemy of gypsies and eliminate him, but her unexpected pregnancy with my half-brother caused her to change priorities and run away back to her people and my father, her true love, just in time to give birth to Camlo and prevent him from being raised by Frollo._ "

"Frollo did seem different in the vision than in real life," Ruby noted.

" _Mother never realized that Frollo wouldn't dare enslave his own blood the same way he did with Quasimodo. So she raised her two sons with as much happiness as she could. On the winter you saw in your vision, Tradaria and Kaa found out that Penna De Mort wanted to take Camlo for some unknown reason; they planned to escape the Isle through the_ _sole barrier breach that they knew back then. Unfortunately, De Mort found out and...Well, you know._ "

"She murdered your parents, brainwashed your brother and almost everyone but you and Frollo into believing that Frollo did it, most likely forced the judge to be an abusive father to Charles so that everyone would believe the lie, and lately tried to kill him with a siren while he was in Auradon from what Sirenius once told me," Ruby summed up. She felt rather bad for Karlos. "It must have been horrible for you..."

" _Watching Camlo get constantly and unfairly beaten for his heritage, spend his time isolated in his gossip studio alone or with his rare friends, Tremaine and Legume, and leave for Auradon? Having to remember all those times we spent as children and brothers, our first steps, our first words, the games we played with Mother, the songs and dances we did with the other dark gypsies, and Father's bedtime stories? All those happy moments ruined by De Mort and I have to watch my half-brother grow up among humans, with no memory of our connection, while I had to endure De Mort and her clique's constant harassing and bullying, especially when I refused to serve her?_ " Karlos wiped away a tear that was threatening to leave his eyes. " _Imagine that_."

The sun was now on the verge of disappearing into the night's familiar dark blanket while Ruby Kyle and Karlos Python still confronted one another and the other teenagers were still frozen. Remembering her petrified friends made Ruby quickly glance at them and remember that she was here on a mission and not here to chat with the son of Kaa and Tradaria, despite how his tale did move her a bit.

Then, an idea bulb hit her.

"You know, you kind of owe me a favor," she turned towards the humanoid snake, who frowned at her sudden words.

" _Excuse me?_ " he frowned. His tone changed from the one of a pitiful snake who was recently mourning over the memory of his half-brother to the smug snake that the quintet was dealing with a few minutes ago. " _You and your friends already paid your debt by saving my hide from Bloodyle. I owe you nothing!_ "

"No. You saved Sean from getting killed by that creep and he returned the favor by taking you with us and away from her, so that completes _his_ favor," Ruby shook her head in determination. "Proserpine only cured you out of instinct, but if I do recall correctly, _I'm_ the one that plucked Bloodyle's eyeballs out before she could kill you for good and leave your body to rot. _That_ , pal, is why you owe me a favor."

Karlos groaned. " _Ugh. You sound like De Mort whenever she manages to coil her fingers around victims with her deals_."

"I'm guessing she's done a lot of deals, uh?" Ruby said indifferently.

" _You'd be surprised. Almost 80% of the villains on the Isle of The Lost went through deals with De Mort in order to get the powers and items they wanted for their evil purposes. Of course, since most of them failed, their paybacks were...severe._ "

Ruby gulped. The villains on the Isle of The Lost had gone through trades with the devil itself just to get through with their plots? So what did that mean? Did it mean that most of the adults that Ruby ran into were suffering from failed deals with Penna? Is that why Penna De Mort, a probably-not teenager witch was more dreaded than Maleficent, the so-called Mistress of Evil, herself?

" _I'd rather get my snakeskin turned into a bag at a bazaar than make a deal with De Mort, but I'll be interested in repaying your generous contribution back there._ " Karlos sounded rather smug when he said 'generous'. " _So, what do you want_?"

"I know you said it would be suicide to go near Penna De Mort's territory just to get to the Everfree Sector, but the trail we have to follow says we must go north from this jungle just to get there in less than a month," Ruby said. "Do you know any possible ways to get out of the jungle without having to spend a week's worth of traveling?"

" _Careful there. Shortcuts are dangerous, especially in the Infinite Forest of Evil. You never know what can pounce on you_ ," Karlos warned as he rested his hands on his hips.

"The mission already screams with suicide on it," Ruby replied sarcastically.

Karlos mumbled something underneath his teeth, something about felines being so full of themselves. He pondered a bit before giving up. " _Alright, I swear on the River Styx that the information I'll give is accurate."_

"Spill." Ruby crossed her arms while Karlos pointed at the end of the creek, where the water seemed to get wider.

" _At the end of the creek is a canyon just outside the jungle that takes about two days to reach from here by foot by foot if you exclude the usual six to ten hours of sleep. The Tarrian River flows right through that canyon. It would take you close to six or eight days to travel upstream and follow the river's current source in the ruins of Pompeii, the ancient city that got destroyed by the old Vesuvius, De Mort's current residence. I'd say it would take you overall about a week and a half of travel from this jungle to De Mort's territory. From there, well, go back to following your trail if you're still alive."_

"Well, that will be helpful!" Ruby said optimistically. "Thanks!"

" _But do take some caution!_ " Karlos warned. " _If you and your friends choose to head towards the canyon, you might go through the Bander-Log territory, and I'm quite positive that the local king would be interested to hear that a human was in his area. Although I don't know how long you would live once he finds out that you've been...associating with the offspring of the monkey-man he loathes so much._ "

The Bander-Logs. Good Lord, Ruby remembered Martin's words from yesterday.

 _And whatever you do,_ _ **don't**_ _come face to face with King Louie and his Bander-Logs..._

"Yeah, my boyfriend told me to avoid them," Ruby acknowledged. "Thank you again, Karlos. And...what about my friends?" She pointed at her still petrified friends.

" _Oh, they'll be unfrozen by the time I leave,_ " Karlos shrugged. " _But since they were petrified, they didn't see nor hear everything. Good thing, too!_ "

"Great, that means I'll have to..." Ruby got cut off when she felt lips crushing on hers and Karlos' forked tongue tangling with hers. By the time she managed to push him away from her, her lips were wet with sticky saliva.

"What the Hell was that for?" she said, repulsed.

" _Satisfactory needs to compensate my earlier nightmares. You'd understand_ ," Karlos snickered as his fingers patted his lips as if to savor them while Ruby was desperately rubbing off the saliva from her lips. " _Now I understand why Hairy hands is so into you..._ "

"GET LOST! WE'RE THROUGH!" Ruby snapped, pointing Karlos a direction that told him to leave.

" _As you wish, sweetie. Next time I'm honored to see you, I'll make sure my stomach has enough room to make you a tasteful dessert. Ta-ta!_ " Karlos Python morphed into his snake self and slithered out of sight. The halo that petrified the other four teenagers disappeared and freed them.

"Where's that blasted python?" Sean demanded.

"Gone," Ruby said as she hid her disgust, "and left us with some info." She told them on how she managed to get info out of Karlos while excluding the vision and the disgusting kiss that he shared with her.

"Proserpine, you know the most about striking deals in the name of Styx," Ingwer told Proserpine. "Should we take the snake's words seriously?"

"Snàkès ìn gènèràl àrè vèry gòòd lìàrs," Proserpine said, "but èvèn thèìr lìès càn't dòublè-cròss àn òath dònè òn thè Rìver Styx."

"So as much as we don't like it and how risky it sounds, we have no choice but to trust in the guy," Sean concluded.

"The irony," Ingwer muttered. "Well, we might as well rest here for the night and go searching for the canyon tomorrow at dawn. My cangee is not going to go anywhere else except in your bellies!"


	62. Kidnapped

Chapter 62: Kidnapped

Fortunately for the quintet, they managed to not encounter a single monster. They kept traveling by the shores of the creek in order to reach the canyon as Karlos Python had advised. In order to make sure that the group reached the canyon in less than two days and also got its hours of sleep, Fork came up with the idea of building two _travois_ using sturdy branches from the jungle trees and thick ropes from their backpack supplies. That way, every two or three hours, three of them would be walking, following the trail, and dragging the _travois_ while the remaining two would try to sleep as much as they could on the makeshift sleds. That way, they'd all keep their strengths up while continuing on their quest.

"Wè tàkè à brèàkè!" Proserpine declared as she dropped the _travois_ she was dragging and fell to the ground, exhausted. Sean, who had been dozing off on the sled she was pulling, groaned when he felt his transporting bed bump rather harshly and got up to stretch his back.

"Oh, this is worse than the pains my sisters made me feel in the mornings!" he complained. Fork and Ingwer, who shared the respective jobs of Proserpine and Sean, reacted in a similar manner.

"Come on, guys!" Ruby looked up from her map. "We're only three or four hours away from the canyon! Look, we can see it from here!" She pointed ahead of them. Currently, the group had stopped by a small waterfall at the creek. They were leaving the depths of the jungle, for now they were seeing fewer and less thicker trees than before. Despite the few grey clouds covering it, the blue sky was quite visible and the sun was shining. From where the teenagers were standing, they had an upper view of the vast remains of the jungle that they had yet to travel, followed by a green plain, and finally, just at the distance, a deep canyon.

"Ruby, we need to rest..." Ingwer began to say.

"But we're getting close!" Ruby insisted.

"Rubes, we share you're enthusiasm, but some of us can't continue unless we catch some air!" Sean said before he cupped his hands in the waterfall and drank from it. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to relish his drink, for Catwoman's daughter stormed at him and brutally pushed Ursula's son in the water.

"RUBY!" Ingwer exclaimed. She rushed to help Sean get out of the water.

"What is wrong with you?!" he exclaimed at Ruby.

"I'd ask you the same thing!" Ruby shouted loudly. Sean nearly backed away in fright. "I'm the only one here who chose to spend zero hours of sleep just to get to one fucking canyon and check our map's trail, and you guys are solely focusing on taking breaks for sleeping and eating in the middle of a damn forest that could kill us **at any second of the day!** "

She began to storm out of the creek.

"Ruby, wait!" Ingwer held out her hand towards Ruby.

" **DON'T 'RUBY, WAIT' ME!** " Ruby fell on her knees before she could even reach the dry land and grabbed her head. Louder screams came out of her mouth as her fingers gripped her hair and her adamantium nails prepared to sink in her skull.

"SÒMÈBÒDY CÒÒL HÈR ÒFF!" Proserpine exclaimed.

"On it!" Forkjølelse rushed behind Ruby and placed each of his hands on her temples, sending some sort of magic cooling air through her skin. The rest of the group looked with anxiousness as Ruby's screams ceased and the girl calmed down. "Rebecca, you OK?"

The response was Ruby getting up gruffly and walking out of the creek in order to sit underneath the shadows of a tree. "Don't call me Rebecca," were the only words she said.

"For someone who hasn't caught a shut-eye since we got into this forest, you definetly need the most rest in the group," Ingwer confirmed. She wiped off some sweat from her forehead. "Sweet kidneys, it's November and this place is even hotter than my mother's oven!"

"Want me to take care of the cooking while you freshen up?" Fork volunteered.

"Sure, I always liked your cold cucumber soup."

"Is soup the only thing we're going to eat during the trip?" Sean nearly complained. His cheeks looked like they were burning when he saw Ingwer and Fork interacting. The daughter of the Candy Witch found the jealousy of Ursula's son silly and, judging by how dirty he was, determined that he could also use for a bath.

"Hèy kìds!" Proserpine called out as she sat in a meditating pose. "Dòn't dò ànythìng cràzy bàck thèrè!"

"Hilarious," Ingwer replied sarcastically.

For the next ten minutes, they tried to rest as much as they could in order to get their strengths in their own way: Ingwer and Sean took a small relaxing swim in the creek and a nice shower underneath the small waterfall, Fork made his cold cucumber soup, and Proserpine continued to make prayers and offerings to her father by sacrificing local squirrels.

Ruby, for her part, was unable to rest underneath the tree she was sitting by. No matter how much she tried to close her eyes, they'd reopen violently. Even though she took of the jacket Sharon made for her in order to use it as a pillow, her head still ached. At one point, she checked her reflection in the mirror and saw the poor state she was in: tired black marks starting to appear underneath her eyes, dirt sticking on her skin, and her pixie haircut (which seemed to be getting longer lately) was messed up as if Ruby had been an ugly Sleeping Beauty waking up from her prince's kiss...

Good Lord, she missed Martin! Just feeling the ninja garb on her body and the ring he gave her hiding beneath her gloves just made her loathe the mission and wish to have just stayed back in the city. Curses to Hell, Ruby would have preferred being a coward and staying with her boyfriend and the peaceful life he had given her rather than be sent on a fatal mission by the secret withholding Villainous Council and be treated like a hero just for going into a forest that was more insane than the asylum where her mother was currently locked up. She had had enough of her days as the Shadow Seeker already! Why did they want her to repeat her career?

A chitter coming from Ruby's right side caught her attention. Her head turned and saw a white macaque standing besides her. From spending so much time with the monkey ninjas of Monkey Fist and his son, Ruby had learned to differentiate the diverse simian relatives.

At first, seeing the cute critter's head nearly tempted Ruby to pet it until she noticed a strange armband on the monkey's left upper arm. It was red, with a golden circle depicting within it some sort of swinging black monkey samurai. This caused old words to flash into Ruby's mind.

"You are _so_ not a friendly monkey," she said quietly as she began to get up.

Yeah, she should have seen the monkey samurais hiding above her head before they grabbed her.

 _Switching perspectives_

"I still don't understand what got into Ruby," Sean told Ingwer as they redressed from taking a good washing session.

"She's just going through a lot," Ingwer said calmly. "I mean, who can blame her? Imagine what it must be like for her, being put in an island prison full of criminals after spending sixteen years as a thief in a place like Gotham, going through some sort of surgery to get her claws, accidently killing a suspect of the attacks at Dragon Hall, her mom going nuts and ending up locked up in Arkham, the Isle's inner prison..."

"A prison within a prison," Sean muttered. "Imagine the agony."

"Precisely." Ingwer nodded. "Add to then Ruby living in the same place as the evil aristocrats she was tricked into robbing, dating the son, and for a moment finally having a 'happily ever after' until the council drops the big bomb were in and the only reason they'd give Ruby for being a part of it is that they have 'faith' in her." She air-quoted the words 'happily ever after' and 'faith' as if they were all part of a child's storybook that she read and eventually threw away with disgust.

"Hey, guys!" Fork got up and gave each of them a bowl full of cucumber soup. "Guess wha-"

" **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!** "

The screams came from Ruby.

"Ruby?" Ingwer looked at the tree where they saw their human friend resting, just in time to see Ruby get snatched by what appeared to be human-faced monkeys wearing dark samurai armors over red ninja garbs and dragged into the trees.

"RUBY!" they exclaimed.

"Whàt's gòìng òn?" Proserpine rushed into the scene.

"Ruby got kidnapped!" Fork exclaimed.

"Gràb yòur stuff ànd Ruby's ànd lèt's gò gèt thèm!" she ordered.

The others nodded and grabbed their backpacks, leaving barely a few supplies behind.

"Fòrk, crèàtè à blàst òf ìcè thàt wìll hèlp us càtch up with thèm! Sèàn, try usìng yòur tèntàclès tò gràb Ruby!"

"On it!" the boys said in unison. Fork held his hands out, summoning a large block of ice. Once he and his friends secured themselves on top of it, he shot a gust of cold wind from behind in order to make the block move at top speed, carrying the four teens while racing through the jungle like a motorboat.

"Ruby!" Ingwer called out.

Ruby, in the meantime, was not in a pleasant situation. Her strange captors were holding onto her very tightly with their monkey hands while using their spare ones to swing from branch to branch at mad speed, failing to notice the few scratches that their prey was getting.

"Ruby!" Ingwer called out again.

"Ingwer! Sean! Forkjølelse! Proserpine!" Ruby screamed. "Help me!"

"Fork, hurry! They're gaining speed!" Ingwer turned to look at Fork, who looked like he was going to faint. "Fork?"

"I...can't...hold much...longer."

You see, the thing with Forkjølelse Vinter is that, while he had amazing powers to manipulate ice, snow, and cold breezes, he did not have unlimited stamina. The larger his amount of power use got, the more he weakened, and with the murderous heat of the jungle, he was basically becoming a pile of snow in summer.

He finally fainted, causing the ice block to crash on the ground and send its passengers flying onto the grass. As if the _Titanic_ and the iceberg had switched roles. Ruby and her captors, for their part, were busy rock climbing all the way up a very tall cliff that stood just in front of them. Ruby kept screaming until her sounds were muffled by the wind.

"Cursès!" Proserpine kicked a nearby rock. "Thèy gòt Ruby!"

"It's my fault," Fork struggled to breathe as he sat on the floor. Sweat was trickling from his forehead. "My powers...have failed me."

"You did what you could, Fork. No one blames you." She looked at the cliff up ahead of them. "But now we have to worry about rescuing Ruby from up there."

"Positively speaking, I just found out who were the creeps that caught our cat," Sean said. He had pulled out his copy of _Evil Creatures And What You Must Do To Live_ from his backpack and read a certain page that showed the mysterious simian aggressors. "The Bander-Logs, a bunch of humanoid monkeys who are experienced in Tai Shing Pek Kwar and obsessed with learning the secrets of the one thing they desired most to be just like humans and obtain full dominance: fire. They were imprisoned on the Isle of The Lost five years ago after Auradon managed to split up the Bander-Log king's good and bad personalities, but due to their extreme pyromania tendencies, the Villainous Council decided they were a public menace and exiled them to the Infinite Forest of Evil." He shut the book closed and put it back in his bag.

"Hòly fàthèr òf Styx, Ruby's scrèwèd!" Proserpine slapped her forehead in exasperation.

"What do you, Proserpine?" Ingwer frowned. "I mean, from spending so much time with Martin Fiske and his father, Monkey Fist, the leading expert on all things simians, don't you think that Ruby could, I don't know, talk diplomatically to the king?"

"Wèll, Ìngwèr, ìf Ì hàdn't hèàrd Mònkèy Bòy tèll Tòugh Tigrèss thàt Kìng Lòuìe wàs àftèr humàns ànd hèld à grudgè àt Mònkèy Fìst fòr sòmè unknòwn rèàsòn, Ì'd tèll yòu yès," Proserpine sighed.

"Splendid," Fork said sarcastically. "You date the son of a man who wants to be just like the other monkeys, but in the end, she has to deal with the monkey who wants to be just like the other men."

 _Meanwhile_

"Move it, man girl!"

"Alright! Geez!"

Ruby had been an idiot. She just got kidnapped by Bander-Logs, the sole beasts in the entire evil forest that her boyfriend had advised her to avoid the most during the quest. If she died, at least she'd be spared from having to tell him face to face: ' _By the way, I got kidnapped by the monkeys you and your dad don't like. Oops._ '

One thing was for sure: for monkeys wearing oriental attire more eccentric than those of the Fiskes' monkey ninjas, the Bander-Logs were very rude. If you don't include the entire kidnapping, branch swinging, and cliff climbing, they gave Ruby a rather rough landing by throwing her onto the cliff's flat rocky top. Without her jacket on to protect her, the ground had rubbed quite a bit onto the tight ninja garb she was wearing. Even the suit's indestructible construction didn't help.

Then, the Bander-Logs were pushing her in order to make her walk ahead towards what appeared to be a large Hindu temple. At first, based on her current state and on how the temple resembled those she had seen in books from Monkey Fist's library, Ruby assumed it was a monkey temple, but the closer she and her captors approached the temple, the more she saw it was human-based. _Of course_ , she thought. _King Louie wants to be just like men and therefore wants to be around things that are completely human related._ Talk about creepy.

The Bander-Logs led Ruby through a ruined hallway. Rusty stone pillars held the ceiling up; one small push would have been enough to knock out one of those ruined stones and make the ceiling crumble. As the kidnappers led their victim further into the temple, Ruby saw more vacant rooms, a giant ruined courtyard, and giant staircases all occupied from roots to roof by Bander-Logs, each of them with the body of a different kind of monkey and wearing the same dark samurai armor over a ninja garb. But what creeped out Ruby the most about them were their faces. They looked human, but the edges of their mouths were sort of crooked and their eyes looked hyper. Such faces reminded Ruby of the ghastly clown stickers that covered nearly every inch of Jessie Joker's locker back at Dragon Hall.

Long story short, if someone had to pick the sanest monkey man hybrid between someone like the Fiskes (who only had the animal's feet and hands, hooting laugh, tendency to knuckle-walk, and pick things up with their feet) or one of those horror movie freaks, that someone would have picked the former.

"Stay here, man girl!" They reached the center of a large room. While it looked no different than the other parts of the temple when it came to old ruins status, it was different in the category of treasure. And by that, we're talking actual treasures, as in golden coins, colorful diamonds and gemstones, unsurprisingly monkey-themed jewels and idols, and fancy silks. Basically the things a king would want.

Ruby gulped at the sight of all the riches that surrounded her as the Bander-Logs pushed her at the center of the room. As a former thief and mercenary, along with her status as Catwoman's daughter, Ruby had a weakness for jewels. Before becoming the Shadow Seeker and an independent thief, every single jewelry and gemstone she had stolen were directly given to Catwoman and left Ruby with only the ones that her mother considered least valuable. That didn't reduce Ruby's eventual interest in keeping gemstones for herself, especially _rubies_ , the bloody red one that she preferred to be called by rather than her actual name, Rebecca.

She mentally shook her head, reminding herself that she was currently a hostage and not at the mall looking for a fancy jewelry store to shoplift.

"Well, well," a booming voice said. "An old man cub."

The Bander-Logs hooted and screeched at the voice, which came from the shadows that faced Ruby. Out of it came a _very_ large, wrinkled monkey hand and a _very_ large forearm covered with long, old fashioned Indian patterned red sleeves that dropped to the ground; obviously, the sleeves were too large for whoever was out in the shadows. Ruby failed to keep herself from trembling as she watched the forearm as big as Bloodyle Silisk in her snake form lead its hand bigger than Ruby's own head towards the girl and, much to Ruby's discomfort, land right between her breasts.

"A _female_ older man-cub," the voice corrected itself. The ground suddenly shook in front of Ruby, who watched the forearm and hand suddenly shrink down until a human-sized silhouette was slightly visible in the shadows. "Well, that's something you don't see everyday."

"Y...You're the king of the Bander-Logs, aren't you?"

A snicker was heard from the shadows as the figure stepped into the light, visibly horrifying Ruby even more than the Bander-Logs already did. Before her stood a humanoid creature with the soggy, wrinkled, and hairy body of an orangutan, dressed in an oversized maharajah robe with such a bright red color and Indian patterns ranging from yellow to orange that almost made Ruby think that the Bander-Log was on fire. He wore countless monkey-themed necklaces, rings, bracelets, and headbands over his ginger hair even frizzier and longer than Rapunzel's. But his human face was even more terrifying than the rest of the Bander-Logs: middle-aged, large bumped forehead, no eyebrows (replaced by marks that looked like burned scars), monkey nostrils, grimacing grin, and glass-colored eyes.

 _That_ was the beast that Martin Fiske warned her about. That was the king of Ruby's kidnappers.

"Call me Louie," King Louie said.


	63. Tempted

Chapter 63: Tempted

"No...more!" Forkjølelse begged once he, Ingwer, Proserpine, and Sean had managed to climb up the cliff for almost twenty minutes. They were lucky to have found rock-climbing equipment in their backpacks to aid them.

"So now what do we do?" Ingwer eyed the monkey temple up ahead of them while they put away their equipment. "We can't just walk in there and take Ruby in a temple full of Bander-Logs!"

"You're right," Sean said. His eyes wandered off as if to think. "As far as we know about these monkey freaks, they're obsessed with getting the secret of fire. I'm willing to bet that everyone of them is gathered around Ruby and expecting some sort of pep rally."

"Yòu gòt à plàn, Pòlyp Bràìns?" Proserpine asked sarcastically. But what the daughter of Hades didn't expect was for the son of Ursula to turn his head towards with a smug grin.

"Actually, I do have a plan."

 _Meanwhile, in King Louie's temple_

"I've met a man cub right here in this very temple," King Louie said as he circled Ruby, who stood stiffly at the center of the temple room while the Bander-Log king's pale eyes ogled her up and down. "I've stood up on the top of my temple and seen from a distance man and his successful evolution. But never in my life have I met or seen a _female_ man."

Ruby shivered in disgust as King Louie stroke the sides of her waist with his old monkey hands. They were definetly not like the hands of Martin, who only laid them on Ruby to comfort her, to give her his love, or to caress her as if she were a fragile thing. Even Monkey Fist himself had given Ruby a hug to comfort her while she was still devastated from accidently injuring her mother (no matter how crappy Catwoman was to her) and learning that the only biological parent she had and knew since she was born was known locked up in Arkham, being injected with medicine and tranquilizers.

"Look, you're...nice and all, your Majesty," she tried to say.

"I told you to call me Louie," he said casually. Which did not make Ruby feel any better.

"Right, _Louie_. Any who, very nice to meet you and all, but I really must be going..." She pulled away from the Bander-Log's touch while he merely chuckled at her.

"Because you're planning on going to the Viper Queen's domain?"

"The Viper Queen?" Ruby noticed the uneasiness of the surrounding Bander-Log warriors as King Louie said those words.

"She comes with many names," King Louie said. He walked around his treasures. "The Basilisk Mistress." Monkey shrieks were beginning to rise. "The Princess of Evil." The noises got louder. "The Dark Child. Penna De Mort."

A horrible chill went through Ruby's spine as she heard the Bander-Logs' simian noises mashed with human shouts of hatred mashed together echo throughout the room. Penna De Mort, the daughter of the for-some-reason-missing Lord Voldemort. That witch was a real pain in the butt. Ruby never encountered the lavender skinned demoness, but she had dealt with one of her pythonacondas and recently blinded Bloodyle Silisk. She knew that De Mort was the real culprit behind the deaths of Kaa and the Dark Gypsy Queen Tradaria. She was now aware that she was really responsible for fatally traumatizing Charles Frollo physically and mentally. She knew how much every villain, even Maleficent herself, feared that witch. She even heard all the stories and rumors of scared students at Dragon Hall of how Penna De Mort enjoyed twisting the minds of students and bullying teachers just to show them who was the superior one. There was only one time Ruby was lucky enough to see the sorceress in the flesh and that was during the Battle Of The Bands during Ruby's first weeks of school.

"You, man girl, are running big risks." King Louie's words brought Ruby back to the present.

"What makes you say that?" Ruby tried to hide her small hint of fear.

"Kid, I've got ears and my ears' got ears." His sentence made no sense to Ruby. "My ears have told me that you blinded the daughter of the Basilisk.

"Bloodyle Silisk? Yeah, I plucked that basilisk's eyeballs..."

King Louie placed a finger on her mouth to silence her. "Kid, Bloodyle is no ordinary basilisk. She is the daughter of _the_ Basilisk, the beast that used to reign the Chamber of Secrets and obeyed solely to the ancestor of Voldemort and his heirs. Bloodyle was part of the brood that the Basilisk gave birth to with his mate during the era of the Dark Lord's reign and when the Dark Lord produced his dark child. The Viper Queen and the Middle Daughter of the Chamber of Secrets have grown together and seen each other as foster sisters for more than a century."

"More than a century?" Ruby frowned. "But Penna De Mort looks like a teenager!"

Wait a minute. Her mind darted off to the conversation she had with Karlos Python, whose flashback vision and words about De Mort's trades with other villains had shown that, in all scenarios, Penna De Mort didn't age. She was immortal.

"You see, kid, as long as you are in the forest, you are not safe, for in this place where nature runs wild, the Viper Queen is it's one true ruler and she _hates_ having man in her territory." He then pulled Ruby closer to him, which caused her to have a sniff at his ghastly odor of overripe fruit. "Only _I_ can protect you, man girl, from her wrath. You can remain safely with us in my temple, but for a price." His evil face leaned closer and whispered in a dark tone:

" **The red flower**."

Ruby should have seen it coming.

"Louie, I appreciate your...generous offer, but..."

"Think about it." He waved at the treasure surrounding them. "My treasures would all be yours, you'd be a queen to the Bander-Logs, and we could turn the entire jungle against the Viper Queen! But we need the power that scares snakes as much as magic: fire!" The Bander-Logs screeched and beat their chests while King Louie got into a song of temptation.

King Louie: _Now don't try to kid me, honey._

 _For my wealth, I'll make a deal with you._

 _What I desire is man's red fire_

 _To get power, to have you my precious, to make my dream come true._

 _Just give me the secret now, my sugared honey._

 _C'mon! Clue me what to do!_

 _Give me your power and that of man's red flower,_

 _So I can be like you._

 _Oh, oobee doo!_

 _I wanna be like you._

 _I wanna walk like you and talk like you too._

 _You can see it's true! Someone like me_

 _Can learn to be like someone like you!_

"Take the jewels!" a Bander-Log shoved a handful of diamonds at Ruby's face.

"Have the tiara of Princess Diana!" Another tried to push a fancy tiara on Ruby's head.

"You'll have the gold!"

"You'll be like a queen!"

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Ruby screamed as she pushed her way out of the warriors' attempts to tempt her with more money than her internal greed could handle. King Louie, unfortunately, had other plans: with a nearby fancy red scarf, he used it as a lasso to grab Ruby as if she were a mustang and drag her closer to him. Her arms neutralized, Ruby was helpless in front of the King who began to pinch her cheeks rather lecherously.

King Louie: _Now you might think it's ridiculous_

 _That me, a gigantopithecus_

 _Would ever dream to form such a fancy team_

 _With the likes of you, sweetheart._

 _But together, we'd have such powers,_

 _All the evil forest's treasures would be ours._

 _I got desire, you got the fire,_

 _But the dream I dream takes two._

 _So, ooh, I wanna be like you._

 _I wanna use that flame just the same_

 _As a beauty like you do!_

 _Oh, how magnificent it would be_

 _A gigantopithecus like me_

 _Could learn to do like you humans do!_

 _I can learn to be like someone like you!_

 _And you can learn to be like someone like me!_

"No! Let me go!" Ruby exclaimed as King Louie finished his song of temptation. She had to get out of here!

"Excuse me?" A voice called from the entrance that led out of the temple room. "EXCUSE ME?"

All eyes turned to look at the intruder. King Louie let go of the scarf he had used to drag Ruby to him, thus freeing her. She looked towards the entrance as well and was relieved that none of the Bander-Logs saw the look of relief on her face when she saw that the intruder was none other than Sean Abyss. Her friends were here, at the monkey temple!

"Oh...my...gosh!" Sean exclaimed when his eyes saw Louie. "Is _that_ King Louie? Holy squirt, I've heard all the stories, but I never knew that King Louie actually lived in the neighborhood! Man, are you such a celebrity!"

Whether or not he got his dramatic acting skills from his mother Ursula or actually bothered to pay attention in Count Olaf's Evil Drama Class lessons back in Dragon Hall, Ruby could tell that Sean was a pretty good actor and he was trying to distract the king of the Bander-Logs with flattery. But Louie, who was far more concerned about getting this intruder out of his temple, ordered his minions to seize him and throw him off the cliff, much to Ruby's horror.

But Sean kept his cool. "Hey, relax, Your Mighty Awesomeness! I mean no harm, I'm just a big fan of yours! Heck, your pyromania activities? I've been geeking about them for years! Heck, I was even wondering..."

 _Psst._

Ruby's ears were the only ones able to hear the whisper worthy of a silent mouse while the Bander-Logs were busy trying to drag Sean away to no avail while King Louie was trying to keep his composure in front of his so-called fan. Ruby quickly darted her eyes toward her left side, where she heard the whisper, and hid her relief when she saw Forkjølelse and Proserpine hiding behind the pillars that held the ceiling up. Forkjølelse gave her a frantic hand gesture that said _Get over here as fast as you can!_

Sneaking away wasn't a problem. With the occupied Bander-Logs, Ruby's former cat burglar stealth skills, and observing the Fiskes train at their castle, the daughter of Catwoman was able to cautiously move away from the simians and join her friends.

"Ìngwèr ìs wàìtìng òutsìdè," Proserpine whispered.

"What about Sean?" Ruby whispered back.

"He'll join us once we get you out...and once he's done with his drama show," Fork whispered back.

The three teens managed as much as they could to sneak away from the crowd by hiding behind the pillars and walking down the hallway. Unfortunately, by the time they were halfway out, one of the Bander-Log warriors, whose instincts told him that something was moving in the shadows, turned his eyes towards the sneaky trio and unleashed an un-monkeylike scream.

" **THEY'RE ESCAPING WITH THE MAN GIRL!** "

"DECOY'S OVER! GOODBYE!" Sean yelped. His tentacles sprouted out and whipped the surrounding Bander-Logs away like a bunch of flies before running off the join his friends.

"NO ONE LEAVES!" King Louie ordered his minions.

"Hurry!" Ruby told her friends.

They ran out of the hallway and into the courtyard, only to end up with Ingwer and surrounded by Bander-Logs getting into Tai Shing Pek Kwar poses or wielding samurai blades.

"Rubes, your boyfriend is into Monkey Kung-Fu!" Sean shook Ruby. "Do something!"

"Hey, just because I'm dating the son of Monkey Fist and watching them train in Tai Shing Pek Kwar doesn't mean I'm an expert!" Ruby protested.

" **MONKEY FIST?** "

The quintet looked at the exit they came from, which tragically got destroyed by the world's largest orangutan dressed in ripped royal clothes. At least now one could understand why the king of the Bander-Logs had a giant forearm and hand during his first encounter with Ruby. It also explained why he called himself something that wasn't 'monkey'.

" _King Louie is a Gigantopithecus?_ " Ingwer choked the words out of her mouth when she saw the monstrous monkey king. "I thought that species was extinct!"

"AND SOON FIVE MORSELS WILL BE!" King Louie bellowed before turning his burning eyes of hatred to Ruby. "BUT **YOU EVIL SOUL**! YOU ARE ASSOCIATED WITH MONKEY FIST AND HIS PROGENY!"

"Look, I know you and Lord Monkey Fist had a...bad first meeting, but..." Ruby tried to say calmly.

"IS THAT WHAT THE FISKES TOLD YOU? HA! MONTY FISKE ROBBED FROM **ME**! I POSSESSED ONE OF THE JADE IDOLS THAT GAVE MYSTICAL MONKEY POWER! SUCH A RELIC HAS BEEN IN MY FAMILY BEFORE MAN EVEN KNEW HOW TO MAKE FIRE!" King Louie hit nearby walls with his fists in anger. The temple shook at the king's fury while his minions hooted with noises of anger, hatred, and disapproval. "AND HIS SON! THE BASTARD CHILD WRECKED A PART OF MY TEMPLE WHEN HE FAILED TO REASSOCIATE WITH HIS MOTHER, WHO SHUNNED HIM FOR BEING THE SON SHE REGRETTED HAVING! I PITY THAT WOMAN, REALLY! THAT PATHETIC EXCUSE OF A TAI SHING PEK KWAR EXPERT PUSHED THE PERSON WHO BROUGHT HIM TO THE WORLD DOWN THE VERY SAME CLIFF MY TEMPLE ONCE STOOD IN INDIA, AND WHILE HE RAN AWAY BACK TO HIS PATERNAL'S NEST, **I** GOT THE BLAME FOR THE DEATH OF THAT ZOOLOGIST AND MY PERSONNALITY SPLIT IN HALF! AND LOOK AT ME NOW! MT SAVAGE SELF IN A COMPLETE WRECK!"

"Well can you blame them?" Ruby asked coldly. Her companions stared at her in surprise. "After all, you kidnapped children in India just so that they could give you the secret of fire to you, and when they didn't, you threw them off the cliff. Even those like Mowgli, who were naive and incapable of using your precious red flower, you wouldn't have spared. You were already a villain from the start! As for Monkey Fist and Martin, they worshipped the monkeys as superior beings compared to humans while you wanted to go against your own kind and be a man! You are no different than them, so stop acting like a rotted, royal pest!"

 _Later_

Ruby made a mental note to never badmouth a Gigantopithecus with a large ego, for now he had chosen to chase her throughout his temple, crashing every nearby pillars on the way and weakening the ceiling, while her friends were outside dealing with the crazy king's minions.

She stopped ad hid behind a pillar in order to both hide from her predator and figure out a plan. For one, Ruby couldn't face the king in hand-to-hand combat. He was far bigger than her and could easily crush her skull with his fists if he wanted to. She couldn't jump on him and blind him with her nails like she did with Bloodyle because of the stupid ancient Indian monkey temple's architecture. And since she didn't have her bag of supplies with her, she couldn't pull out her gun and shoot at him the same way she did with the pythonaconda.

That meant she had to somehow trick King Louie in order to escape. But how?

"WHERE ARE YOU, MAN GIRL?" King Louie roared. "SHOW YOURSELF!" His roar made the ceiling shake.

The ceiling...Of course! If Ruby could manage to make the thing crush a few extra pillars, the temple's ceiling would fall of them and crush him, thus sparing Ruby from his wrath.

 _Hey, great idea, but how are_ you _going to get out alive?_ a voice in the back of her head told Ruby. Ugh, what a fair point. How would Ruby get out in order to avoid getting crushed by the ceiling as well?

Her eyes darted around and spotted an open window, with a tree's branches right outside. She could jump out of it and swing her way down using the swinging techniques that Martin had taught her during the inter-level week. That sounded like a plan.

"THE VIPER QUEEN WAS RIGHT," King Louie muttered from somewhere in the temple room they were currently in. "I SHOULD HAVE TOSSED YOU OFF MY CLIFF AS SOON AS MY MINIONS FOUND AND BROUGHT ME A MAN GIRL WHO HAPPENED TO BE IN THE FOREST, BUT NO, I HAD TO SUGGEST THAT WE COULD RULE TOGETHER BECAUSE I THOUGHT YOU WERE HARMLESS!"

Ruby froze. Penna De Mort had told King Louie to get rid of her specifically? Ruby knew that this couldn't be about her shooting on a pythonaconda last week and, even though it was probable, it couldn't have been about blinding Bloodyle Silisk, De Mort's longtime friend. Or was it because the group was planning to go through Penna's territory in order to get to Nightmare Moon's?

So Ruby was apparently the one person among the Chosen Five that the daughter of Voldemort wanted dead during their quest, but why single out Ruby, who had practically nothing unlike Proserpine, who could create fire and speak to spirits, Forkjølelse, who had insane ice magic, Sean, armed with tentacles and maybe some magic inherited from Ursula, and Ingwer, who was just as good in dark magic as Mal, Maleficent's reformed daughter, and could manipulate people with her delicious food if she wanted to? What did a powerful sorceress like Penna De Mort see in a random cat burglar like Ruby that was so threatening?

"GOTCHA!" Out of nowhere, King Louie's face appeared and his body blocked Ruby's path. The girl couldn't help but scream at the predator's surprise attack. King Louie raised his fist and began to bring it down at Ruby, who shut her eyes and held out her hands in protection.

"GAH! GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU TEMPLE VARMINTS!"

 _Temple varmints?_

Curiosity could kill the cat for all it wanted, but Ruby reopened her eyes and brought down her hands away from her face. The monstrous Bander-Log was making the temple room shake, threatening the ceiling to collapse by accidently destroying two pillars while he was busy waving away black creatures swarming around the king and attacking him like a swarm of bees. At first, Ruby assumed it was a swarm of tracker jackers, but when she saw more closely the shape of their wings, the noise that these creatures made, and how their ferocity towards King Louie increased as they fought away from the window's light, the girl realized what kind of animal just saved her.

 _Bats._

This _had_ to be some sort of sick joke.

Ruby raced towards the window now that she had free access. Louie didn't fail to see her run off. "OH, NO YOU DON'T!" He ran after her, crushing even more pillars on the way. The bats must have disappeared; Ruby couldn't hear their annoying screechings.

More pillars falling down. The ceiling could collapse at anytime.

Ruby was getting closer to the window.

King Louie was closing in.

More pillars broke down.

Ruby jumped off the window and grabbed the nearest branch of the tree, making her way to safety just as King Louie crushed the wall and ended up crushing himself.

 _Changing perspectives_

"RUBY!"

Everyone had stopped battling when they saw a big part of a temple falling down to rumble. Fearing the worst for their king, the Bander-Logs ignored the four teenagers and raced towards the large mass of rumble in order to dig out their king.

"Ruby! Where's Ruby?" Ingwer's voice was full of fear. The four teens ran up the rumble and began to dig as well.

"Ì sènsè dèàth," Proserpine said.

"If anything happens to that cat, I'll never forgive myself..." Sean nearly cried. "I can't believe I argued with her right before she got kidnapped and...probably killed."

"Oh, spare me your senseless tears." A sarcastic voice from above stunned them. They looked up and saw Ruby sitting on a large tree branch, giving a smug smile as she made a peace sign with her right hand. Fork sighed in relief as Ruby swung her way down to the ground and got squeezed into a bear hug by Ingwer.

"DON'T EVER GIVE ME A HEART ATTACK LIKE THIS!" she scolded.

"Alright, alright! Geez, you make one heck of a suffocating mom!" Ruby gasped for air once Ingwer released her.

"What about King Louie?" Sean asked.

Ruby said nothing and only glanced down at the Bander-Logs, who still tried desperately to bring their king out of a probable rocky grave. The quintet said nothing as they got away from the monkey temple and slid down the cliff on an ice slide crafted by Fork.

Proserpine had sensed death.

Ruby Kyle had killed King Louie.

"Yòu knòw ìt's nòt yòur fàult yòu hàd tò kìll hìm, rìght?" Proserpine put a hand on Ruby's shoulder as the group went back to the direction they were supposed to go.

"I don't regret killing him," Ruby said flatly. The others looked at her with confusion. "The last time I killed someone, I did it unintentionally and covered myself with guilt because even though the attacks at Dragon Hall ended after I killed the 'culprit', no one believes that they are safe. But King Louie...he was a monster in the past and present. He killed human children just because they couldn't give him fire. He tried to kill me just because I'm connected with the Fiskes and because Penna De Mort told him that he should."

"Wait, what?" Ingwer asked.

"I'd better tell you guys what happened in the temple."


	64. Preyed

Chapter 64: Preyed

Once the quintet got down the cliff and away from the monkey temple, they resumed back to their traveling towards the canyon that led to the Tarrian River. The more they were getting closer to the end of the jungle, fewer trees and plants got in the way. Since they abandoned the travois during the chase to rescue Ruby from the Bander-Logs, the group had to resort to walking and avoid rest stops. As they walked, Ruby told the others about her confrontation with King Louie.

"So Penna De Mort had tried to convince King Louie to kill you?" Ingwer asked once Ruby was done. "But why?"

"How should I know?" Ruby asked. "I know for one that it can't be about me blinding Bloodyle or shooting at a pythonaconda. Louie made it sound like Penna told him to dispose of me as soon as she learned that I put my foot in the forest."

"You're right," Fork said. He quickly drank from his canteen, corked it back, and threw it in his backpack. "Plus, if King Louie had his monkeys spy on us while we were traveling, then Penna must have her own spies. She must probably know that we are on her way towards her turf in order to get to the Everfree Sector, and for intruding her area she'll have us killed, before or after. By why not kill us all? Why just Ruby?"

"Màybè bècàusè shè's à Mugglè?"

Everyone looked at Proserpine as she said this.

"What did you call me?" Ruby asked, nearly insulted.

"Shit, she's right!" Ingwer facepalmed herself. "I forgot that Ruby is a Muggle!"

"Hello, I'm right here!" Ruby waved her hands. Sean put his hand on her right shoulder.

"Ruby, 'Muggle' is the term used in wizard dialect to commonly refer to non-magical beings, especially humans," he said. "Like yourself."

"Is that a bad thing...from the wizard perspective?" Ruby frowned.

"No. Well...it depends." Ingwer made hand gestures as if to say: 'So-so'.

"Fòr màny màgic wìèldèrs, èspècìàlly thòse fròm purèblòòdèd lègàcìès, Mugglès àrè thè mòst wòrthlèss bèìngs tò èxìst," Proserpine said solemnly.

"They think that you're not worthy of such power if you don't have 100% magic blood in you," Fork joined in. "They won't even make exceptions if you're a half-blood, which is rare."

"You've heard of Voldemort a gazillion times, right?" Sean asked Ruby.

"Well, I heard he tried to take over the world and kill Harry Potter, he treated his daughter like a slave, and he's currently not here much to everyone's relief," Ruby answered.

"Yeah well the guy was one heck of a jerk and a hypocrite. He was himself a half-blood, and when he found out his father was a Muggle..." He flicked his hand as if he were holding a wand. "Killing Curse," he whispered.

Ruby shuddered. She remembered seeing Penna using the Killing Curse to kill Tradaria and Kaa in the vision that Karlos Python showed her.

"He goes around, lying about being a pureblood, but not joking about Muggle blood being exterminated. And guess who inherited his racist views?"

"I'm not gonna guess. It's Penna De Mort."

"Bingo! So maybe that's why she's targeting you: you're a Muggle, you're going towards her territory, and since you kinda made a mess with her minions, she wants you dead!"

"Swell," Ruby grumbled. "Looks like I'm this week's happy hour menu for monsters...Wait a minute." She stopped in her footsteps; the others followed her procedure. "If Penna hates...'Muggles' as you put it, then why does she have Jessie Joker as one of her goons?"

The others said nothing, for they obviously never thought about it. Jessie Joker, the daughter of the psychopathic Joker and Harley Quinn, was one of the nuisances that followed Penna De Mort at Dragon Hall. The crazy red-and-black dressed clown had the reputation of pulling pranks on her peers, most of the pranks being more harmful than playful. Lockers were flooded with tar once they were opened, homework papers were switched with 'mock poetry' booklets, and at least twenty students had suffered from Jessie Joker's infamous homemade nitrous oxide...

"Uh guys?" Ruby frowned when she saw her friends making rather terrified faces at the same time.

"Jessie's laughing gas." Forkjølelse shuddered. "I seriously hope that we won't run into it."

 _Maybe some ten minutes later_

If villains had a god of luck, then it must have blessed the group because by the time they were approaching the jungle's end, they had run into no monsters and no laughing gas.

Well, technically they _did_ ran into a monster, but the monster did not attack them.

No, it was dying.

"Hòly fàthèr..." Proserpine had gasped.

This was the first time they were crying for a monster they had encountered in the Infinite Forest of Evil. The monster in question was none other than a Velociraptor, a very ferocious dinosaur and predator. From what the monster guidebook said, the beast usually hunted it packs and was cleverer than it appeared.

But this Velociraptor lied on the ground, its body ghastly twisted and mauled with hideous claw marks. Blood was leaking and drying out of its wounds while it was struggling to maintain its last breaths of life.

Sean looked the most devastated out of the five teenagers. Without even hesitating, he approached the dinosaur, knelt in front of it, and stroke it with a hand that was both respectful, heartbroken, and comforting for the beast.

"The Big One," he said. Tears began to fall out of his eyes. "It's her."

"Thè Bìg Onè?" Proserpine asked. Fork and Ruby looked at Ingwer, expecting an answer.

"Sean has always been obsessed with dinosaurs when we were kids," she explained. "He managed to study every species that ever existed and also figured out how to communicate with them."

"Hè's à dìnò èxpèrt but hè càn't èvèn càst ònè làundry spèll?" Proserpine asked skeptically. Nobody paid attention to her remark and continued to observe the son of Ursula as he communicated with the Big One.

"The Big One was the leader of the Velociraptors at Jurassic Park," Sean said. "The _first_ one."

"The first one?" Ruby asked.

"After Jurassic Park failed, another park opened a decade later," Ingwer said. "Jurassic World ended up shutting down the same way than Jurassic Park: failed attempt to turn genetically reincarnated dinosaurs into entertainment creatures. Since dinosaurs were considered too dangerous, especially the predators that caused the most troubled, Auradon shipped all of them into the Isle Of The Lost. Macy Beth told me once that the Huns occasionally send a squad to catch some weakened dinosaurs and bring them back to the Mad Science Underground in order to sell their DNA samples or limbs for experimentation."

Sean observed the claw marks on the Big One's chest and noted their size.

"Indominus Rex," he said suddenly. The Big One made a small roaring sound that sounded rather angry.

"Dominus what?" Fork arched an eyebrow.

"Ènglìsh, plèàsè," Proserpine rolled her eyes at Sean, who easily ignored her.

"Indominus Rex, guys," Sean said seriously. His hand re-examined the Big One's injuries. "One of humanity's worst ideas for combining different DNAs to create one horrifying hybrid."

"Like Amelia Hall's Cuddle Buddies?" Ruby made a disgusted face at the memory of the plush that her boyfriend's least favorite stalker admired.

The Big One grunted at Sean.

"The Big One says that the Indominus Rex kills animals for sport, including other dinosaurs, but tends to feast on human flesh. She also says that the beast had killed her pack for some reason during the last few twenty-four hours. The Big One had to ditch her pack to reach her nest, but..." His voice trailed off until he sobbed out the words.

"The Indominus stomped on her eggs."

The teenagers gasped. Soon, the dying Big One was surrounded by crying teenagers mourning her upcoming death and tragic past. With one injured hand, she began to dig into the ground. The teenagers watched with confusion as the Velociraptor continued to dig until the noticed something white started to appear in the brown soil. Sean got excited and began to help the Big One finish the digging using his own hands.

A white egg the size of a football stood out.

"She saved one of her babies," Ingwer said.

"It's a miracle." Fork wiped away a tear.

Sean carefully held the egg in his hands while the Big One gave him a thankful glare.

' _Protect...my child_ ,' she told Sean.

"I will," he vowed. "I promise on the River Styx."

The Big One nodded and turned her head towards the other descendants.

' _Face...your fear._ ' Ingwer nodded.

' _Do not...hesitate...to confront...death_.' Proserpine gulped before nodding.

' _Beware...a frozen heart._ '

"Yes, ma'am," Fork answered.

Finally, the Big One stared at Ruby, who felt her heart pumping in her rib cage as the Big One tapped her chest with one of its claws.

' _The truth...lies...within...you_." The Velociraptor gently dropped her head to the ground, her eyes vacant of any life.

The Big One was dead. And her egg was watching.

The teenagers were wiping away their old mourning tears as new ones came out as they witness the egg cracking open and a baby Velociraptor covered in blood sitting in Sean's palms and staring at him.

"Hey, Biggie, descendant of the Big One," he said. "Welcome to the world."

 _Later_

It might have been around 5pm by the time they got out of the jungle at last and arrived at a big yellow grass plain occupied. Just ahead stood a ravine that served as a direct passage to the canyon.

"We're almost there," Ruby said as she put away the map back in her backpack. "So now we just have to go down that ravine and make a nice walk to the canyon and follow the Tarrian River upstream."

"Here goes Day #3," Fork sighed.

Meanwhile, Sean was busy holding up Biggie in his hands and showing him the ravine up ahead. "Ready to go on a big adventure, Biggie?" he asked the baby Velociraptor. The creature made small screeches of excitement and hopped in its palms before scurrying up Sean's arm like a squirrel and clutching his cheek with its small hands. Sean laughed when the little thing began licking his cheek playfully with its little tongue.

Ingwer chuckled as she watched the little scenario while she was walking next to Sean. "Looks like you and the little guy instantly bonded."

"Actually, Ingwer, Biggie is a girl," Sean told the daughter of the Candy Witch. He stroke Biggie on the forehead with his index finger. The latter gave him a small nip with her little teeth before scurrying on top of his grayish hair. The rest of the group giggled at the sight of the baby Velociraptor standing on top of his head as if in the movie _TITANIC_.

For a moment, it seemed like the teenagers finally found some joy in this odyssey.

They were getting much closer to the ravine until they heard a strange growl, which made them stop in their tracks.

"Uh, what was that?" Fork asked.

"I think that was Biggie," Sean said seriously. Heads looked up towards Biggie, who fidgeted rather strangely. She held her nose in the air, sniffing until her eyes darted towards the jungle. Another growl came out of her mouth.

"Whàt ìs shè sàyìng?" Proserpine asked Sean.

"Danger coming towards us." Sean looked around until he spotted a large hollow tree trunk lying nearby. "Quick, in there!"

The others didn't hesitate and followed his trail. One at a time, they crawled into the trunk, which had a small dent on the side big enough for them to see what was going on outside.

"Ech!" Fork yelped disgustingly, for Sean had quickly summoned one of his tentacles to spit some ink at the ice prince's face. "What the Hell, Sean?"

"Keep it down and use my ink to cover your bodies the same way you'd apply lotion!" Sean ordered.

"Question: why?"

"He's saying that we need to cover ourselves with his ink to hide off our scent," Ruby answered for Sean while she applied some offered ink on her. "Judging by the fact that there's a homicidal dinosaur out there, I don't want to picture ourselves getting caught."

The others nodded and applied the ink all over their bodies. Even Sean carefully put some on Biggie, who clearly did not like getting cecaelia ink on her dinosaur skin.

"OK," Sean whispered once he checked that everybody had covered his or her scent. "Until I say were good to go, nobody _moves_ **a muscle**."

Distant noises of leaves rustling and trees toppling down came, followed by large booming steps. The group did not move from its hiding spot but at least managed to observe what was going on outside through the dent.

The approaching booming sounds, much to their horror, came from a big albino dinosaur. If it weren't for the black spikes running down its spine and up its forearms, its four-fingered hands full of black sharp claws, its blood red eyes, and its full mouth full of teeth opening as far as a large snake could, one would have mistaken it for a T-Rex.

 _Indominus Rex_ , mouthed Sean. He clutched a frightened Biggie in his arms. The others did as much as they could to cuddle themselves out of sight while the Indominus got closer until it stopped barely twenty feet away from the tree trunk. The beast slightly lowered itself until its knees bended and its tail touched the ground. From the dent of their hiding spot, the group could see a silhouette sliding down the Indominus' tail and landing on the ground in some sort of combat pose.

It was a girl, who could have been around eighteen and therefore much older than Proserpine, who was the eldest in the group. The girl was a rather disturbing sight, for she was a combination of monstrous and attractive. Her slender hourglass figure and curvy hips were covered by her scale-patterned short jumpsuit exposing her bare shoulders and back. Her sea blue high-heeled boots reached up to the end of her hips and her connected to her brown belt by metal garnets of the same color. Her long silver-and-white hair had some hints of brown-and-green dyed strikes and was tied down into a braid with 4 spiked brown hair elastics. Her neck had collar-styled necklaces. Her face looked pretty when it came to human standards. Those were the girl's attractive traits.

But the unattractive traits? Parts of her forehead, shoulders, down her spine, and elbows were rising out and shaped like actual spikes similar to those of the Indominus, only in white. Spikes were even sprouting behind her boots, tearing through the fabric, and speaking of boots, the heels were white and shaped like a knife with sharp teeth. Sharp grey claws were on her fingers. A small, but thick white tail came out of her behind. Her skin was as white as the present dinosaur, her ears were rather pointy, her eyebrows shaped to resemble spikes as well, her hazel-colored lips covered her mouth full of sharp fangs, and her human shaped eyes were as red as those of the Indominus.

In other words, this girl almost reminded the group, excluding Biggie, of Bloodyle Silisk, except as a dinosaur version of the Basilisk's daughter and in a more athletic attire.

" **I'll take it from here** ," the girl said to the dinosaur. Like Bloodyle, her voice didn't sound human, but instead of Bloodyle's voice sounding like a snake, that girl sounded a lot more like a dinosaur eager to go hunting. " **Thanks, Mom**."

 _Mom?_ Forkjølelse mouthed in horror, which was a mutual feeling shared by the rest of the group as they watched the large Indominus Rex rubbing its evil muzzle onto the head of her 'daughter' before booming its way back to the jungle.

Well at least it made sense that a monster like the Indominus Rex would have a descendant as well like the Basilisk, but unlike during their first encounter with Bloodyle Silisk, the group had no one to help them the same way Karlos Python helped them and it didn't seem like Ruby could blind that monster as well, especially when that monster could kill her just for the heck of it.

Complete silence and paralysis flew into the hollow trunk as the daughter of the Indominus Rex walked impatiently by it. Proserpine and Ingwer, being the closest to the trunk's opening, had a visual of the girl's terrifying heels.

" **Where on earth is Bloodyle? That basilisk is never on time!** " the girl complained as she stared at the upcoming sunset. " **For once her Ladyship puts me on patrol duty in my favorite hunting ground! Looks like I'll have to go get her myself!** "

The group silently sighed as they listened the girl storm off and waited until they were certain that the sound of her feet were gone from their ears.

"Ìt's sàfè." Proserpine checked before getting her full body out and helping the others get out of the trunk.

"We'd better get to that ravine," Ruby said firmly.

"And quick." Sean looked around him cautiously while Biggie managed to hide inside one of the safe, danger-proof pockets inside his jacket. "The Indominus Rex is also known to be able to camouflage itself and mask its heat signature. If the Indominus Rex was capable of using those tricks to escape her enclosure back in Jurassic World, I don't want to find out if its sequel...DUCK!"

The others hit the ground while Sean thrust his tentacles out into the open on his left side. At first, it seemed like he was aiming at nothing, but then the sound of a body getting hit was heard, and the Indominus Rex's child appeared and crashed into the hollow tree trunk, crashing it in the process. Nevertheless, it didn't stop her from landing on her hands and pushing herself back on her feet the same way a gymnastic expert would do in the Olympics.

"Clever girl," Sean muttered while Ingwer pulled out her mother's magical spoon, Fork and Proserpine began to summon their elemental powers, and Ruby held out her clawed hands, ready to attack.

" **You're quite a dinosaur expert, I'll give you that and I'm quite flattered, but you'd have to be dumb enough to think that** _ **octopus ink**_ **would prevent me from sniffing out you and your merry men** ," she scoffed. She held her head up in sadistic pride and began to sniff the air. " **Well let's see...An underground demigoddess, a pyrophobic witch -how ironic, a warm-heated coldblooded ice prince, yuck, a dinosaur expert- finally, a worthy opponent- carrying a baby raptor with him, and...** " She stopped sniffing and gave a blood colored stare at Ruby, who stood behind the other four. The daughter of Catwoman stiffened when the daughter of the Indominus Rex kept staring at her and released a sadistic monstrous chuckle. " **A dirty blooded** _ **human**_ **! Looks like villains are getting more desperate than ever!** "

Ruby blinked in confusion. _Dirty blood?_ That sounded like what Bloodyle had said right after Ruby had stabbed her eyes and ran away with the others.

 _CURSE YOU, YOU FILTHY MUGGLE! CURSE YOU AND YOUR FILTHY BLOOD!_ The words screamed again in Ruby's head while Sean dealt with the humanoid Indominus.

"Alright, listen Rexy..." he began.

" **Indimia!** " the humanoid dinosaur monstrously yelled at them, literally blowing their hairs with a big breath that had the sick smell of chewed carcasses and licked blood. " **It's INDIMIA REX! Jesus, why does everybody think my name is Rexy? Rexy was that old crone of a T-Rex that took part in the showdown that led to my mom's death and eventual resurrection right in this damn forest!** "

"Well excuse us for not running into dinosaurs every day back home!" Ingwer held her hands up in defense.

"Ingwer, you're not helping!" Sean snapped as he put his right arm in front of Ingwer to prevent her from foolishly attacking Indimia Rex. The latter crossed her arms and stared at the arguing duo with an amused smug grin on her face. Obviously, she was enjoying watching two people bicker at one another. Much to her evident facial displeasure, they stopped and cooled down.

" **And to think that this was getting interesting** ," she muttered.

"OK, let's start over," Sean sighed. He restarted firmly. "Indimia, we did not mean to break your territorial boundaries and I'm sorry I accidentally called you after an old crone." Indimia gave some sort of cruel, but thankful nod as Sean insulted Rexy just to appease Indimia. "We just want to get into that ravine." He pointed at the ravine that stood a dozen feet behind them. "Once where there, then I can assure you that you will never see our faces again." He kind of stared hopefully at Indimia, which meant that he was mentally begging that she would accept his slim diplomacy.

Well, that didn't work out for his cause. Indimia Rex just ended up laughing loudly, her voice nearly sounding like a roar that chased away a nearby flock of birds.

" **Seriously, for a dinosaur expert, you're really good with words and wasted flattery!** " Indimia said as her laughter went to medium volume. " **That ravine is where my usual herd of preys go through during their monthly migrations. You'd have to be idiots to want to go into their circular rotation!** "

"Cìrculàr ròtàtìòn?" Proserpine asked.

" **Aren't you a daughter of Hades? You should know the old legend of Charybdis and Scylla, and the term 'between Charybdis and Scylla'.** "

"Bètwèèn Chàrybdìs ànd Scyllà..." Proserpine facepalmed herself. "Dàrn ìt! Wè'rè dòòmèd!"

"Uh, what do you mean we're doomed?" Ruby began to look nervous. "We're not going to have to face two other monsters!"

"No, Indimia's referring to the monstrous whirlpool and the six-headed monster that Odysseus had to face," Sean explained. "My mother told me that legend when I was still in preschool. When he had to go through a path in the ocean that was occupied by the two monsters, Odysseus had to choose which monster he and his crew would face: the whirlpool Charybdis, which would mean losing his ship and entire crew, or the monster Scylla, which would mean losing only six of his men in order to feed the beast. None of the choices were better than the other, but he chose Scylla in the end."

" **And in this case, we're talking about a herd of wildebeests that have this routine of trying to dodge two hunting grounds of two types of ruthless predators: the first would be the Elephant Graveyard, home of the hyenas, and then there's this area, my mom's and my personal turf. The herd keeps going through this ravine in the hopes of ditching one predator but just end up losing more bodies at the claws of the other.** " She stared at her claws. " **Naturally speaking, I've killed the most.** "

"And knowing your biological relative's specific hunting skills, I'm going to guess that you mostly kill members of the herd just for fun." Sean frowned in disgust.

" **Precisely. But in your case, your path between Charybdis and Scylla will involve choosing one of two certainly deaths: getting trampled to death by the herd or getting killed by me.** " A sneer grew on her face.

"Gee, you're not giving us many options," Ruby muttered.

" **Actually, dirty blood, only** they **get to pick between the options**." Indimia pointed at Proserpine, Sean, Ingwer, and Fork. " **But** _you_ **don't.** "

Ruby froze. Fork and Proserpine stood protectively in front of her while Indimia was making dangerous, predator-like steps towards the group.

" **See, her Ladyship told me that there was an undesired human in the Infinite Forest Of Evil and that if I were to run into her, I could devour her** ," Indimia said. " **And it happens to be the happy hunting hour and I'm in the mood for fresh human meat, my preferred diet.** "

The group was shocked from the information they just received. "But...Why are you taking orders from Penna De Mort? She's a snake lover and you're, well, a dinosaur!"

" **Born from a genetic hybrid composed of multiple DNAs, dinosaur or not. For instance, due to my mother's part-cuttlefish DNA, I can camouflage..."**

"And the Indominus Rex could extend her mouth far enough to swallow her preys full...like a snake!" Sean realized as he recalled seeing Indimia's mother opening her mouth. "You and your mother have snake DNA, which makes you part-snake, and therefore an obvious loyalist to Penna De Mort!"

Indimia didn't bother replying to his comment. Instead, she hopped off the ground, held her claws out, ready to strike, and started lunging at the group, her main target being Ruby, who still stood at the back of the group. But Sean was quicker: he thrust out all his tentacles at Indimia and held her in their coils long enough for him to shout: "Fork! Proserpine! Back me up here! Ingwer, take Ruby with you and run as fast as you can towards the ravine! And watch out for the wildebeest!"

"Ruby, come on!" Ingwer grabbed Ruby by the arm and the girls began running towards the ravine. Proserpine and Fork rushed to Sean's side just in the nick of time. Indimia, when she saw her targeted prey running off, roared in anger and slashed the tentacles that held her captive. A scream of agonizing pain came out of the mouth of Ursula's son and he let go of Indimia, prompting him to make the tentacles to disappear and bring him back to his normal self, only now he had ghastly cuts over his arms and legs. The wounds could be seen through the now torn fabric.

"I don't think the suits that Noir designed were claw-proof!" He groaned as his hands tried to tend his arms' injuries, only for him to scream even louder.

Meanwhile, Indimia began running towards Ruby and Ingwer as they got closer to the ravine. It was incredible how she could run incredibly fast with those heels she had. The way she moved her legs while running at full speed was just like the one of a Velociraptor in the monster level, but in the human level she had the speed and stamina of an Olympic jogger.

" **You won't get away!** " Indimia shouted at Ruby, who tried desperately to keep the same speed as Ingwer. The humanoid Indominus was on verge of catching up to them until a fireball hit her in the chest, sending her flying head first onto the ground.

"Sòrry, Rèxy," Proserpine told Indimia as she held out her hands burning with blue fire, "but dìnòsàurs thàt try tò kìll my frìènds dèsèrvè à tìckèt tò my dàd's òbnòxìòus pòkèr gàmè ìn Tàrtàrus!"

" **Well allow me to trade places with...** " A blast of ice hit Indimia, freezing her into a chunk of ice. Proserpine turned to see Fork coming. His hands were busy dragging a now unconscious Abyss in his arms while Biggie hopped out of Sean's backpack and stood on top of Fork's head.

"Looks like Indimia Rex will be going through her first ice age," Fork joked.

"Lèt's gò jòìn Ìngwèr ànd Ruby bèfòre thè hèrd còmès!" Proserpine ran towards the ravine, followed by the boys and the baby dinosaurs.

 _A few seconds later, at the bottom of the ravine_

Unfortunately, the herd had come. Proserpine and Fork (who was still carrying Sean and Biggie) had some difficulties dodging the stampede of wildebeests by the time they stepped into the ravine.

"Proserpine! Over here!"

They spotted Ingwer and Ruby, who were covered in mud from rolling down the ravine.

"SEAN!" Ingwer rushed towards Sean once the group reunited. "What happened?"

"Indimia Rex injured him," Fork said. "I managed to freeze her but I don't know how long it will last."

Booming sounds started echoing in the air and increasing by the minute. This caused the stampede to stop going wherever they were going and to go back on their hooves into the direction they came from in the ravine.

"They're going to the same direction as we are," Ingwer said.

"Hey, what's with Biggie?" Ruby pointed at Biggie, who pointed at the baby raptor on Fork's head as the little thing pounced and pointed its little paws at four wildebeests that parted from the herd and made their way towards the group. They halted.

The one in the front stepped forward. " _You saved us all by distracting the Indominus Rex's brood and prevented more of my brothers from being killed meaninglessly by its sadistic claws_ ," it said in a human voice. He and the other three wildebeests knelt in front of them. " _To you we are grateful._ "

"Uh, yòu'rè wèlcòme?" Proserpine frowned, clearly confused of why they were dealing with talking wilderbeests.

" _How may we ever repay you? And do hurry. The Indominus Rex has sensed through their mental link that her child has bee harmed. We won't be so fortunate if she comes."_

Ingwer thought of a good price. She pointed at the direction that the herd was taking. "Is you're herd going towards a canyon through this ravine?"

" _Yes._ "

"If you can drop us off at the Tarrian River so that we can go upstream, we'll be grateful!"

" _Hop on!_ "

Soon, each wildebeest was carrying a teenager on its back (the one carrying Ingwer also had to carry Sean and Biggie) and joining the rest of the herd at full speed. By the time the Indominus Rex came and freed her angry daughter, the group and the herd were long gone.


	65. Rested

Chapter 65: Rested

Positively speaking, the herd had managed to get through the canyon and reach the Tarrian River in the middle of the night. Since the herd was never in a rush to head towards their destination at the Elephant Graveyard, the wildebeests stayed and rested with the quintet, who was glad to get some sleep after that insane chase with Indimia Rex.

Negatively speaking, Sean was unconscious from the injuries that Indimia gave him, so Ingwer and Proserpine spent hours trying to mend his bones and cure his blood in order to prevent any sort of infection. And even though they did as much as they could to heal him and watch over him until he woke up, the son of Ursula didn't wake up until three days had passed. It was now Thursday, November 28th, and if they didn't have to wait for him to get back to the land of the living, the group would have been halfway upstream by now.

"Day Six," Fork commented as he threw pebbles in the Tarrian River just for the heck of it. "Sean is waking up at last, we still aren't upstream, and while we're probably busting our heads off just to save everybody in the Isle, maybe the world, and our old peers back in Auradon Prep must be coming back from their Thanksgiving break."

"Ìt's àlsò Chàrlès Fròllò's bìrthdày," Proserpine said as she watched the ugly reflection that the Tarrian River's dark water was providing her with. "Làst tìmè I hèàrd fròm Hàyà, shè sàìd thàt thèìr frìènds wèrè thròwìng hìm à bònfìrè bìrthdày bàsh àt thè bèàch."

"Gee, the one guy who never got a single birthday party in his entire life finally gets one while we're here risking our lives by the hour. Now _that_ 's cold."

Meanwhile, Sean was resting his back on pillow separating him from a rock and yelping as Ingwer tended his wounds. Nearby wilderbeests paused in chewing the grass and give him a weird look, wondering why on Earth the purple boy was screaming.

"Sean, hold still!" Ingwer tried to tighten the clean bandages she was using to replace the dirty ones on Sean's bare left arm. While he was unconscious, his 'nurses' had to 'indifferently' strip him in order to deal with his cuts, which meant that Sean had spent three days wearing only his black boxers while two girls were healing him.

"Put yourself in my shoes and get slashed by an Indominus Rex from arm to legs and then we'll talk!" He gritted his teeth. His body was not reacting well to getting his wounds covered by tight cloths.

Another yelp came out of his mouth as Ingwer finished tightening the bandage. "Burning ovens unite, you scream even louder than a baby!" Ingwer told him.

"Well excuse me if I'm not the one who had to run a Muggle to safety while a certain cecaelia was nearly turned into sushi! Do you...mmph!" Sean didn't finish his sentence, for Ingwer had placed her hands on his cheeks and pulled him towards, giving him quite a big kiss on the lips. It startled the son of Ursula a bit that his childhood crush was giving him the first kiss between them that he hoped to be the one to initiate it, but he ended up returning the gesture and kissed her back with equal passion, letting his hand trail into her brown hair sprinkled with blue.

They gasped for air once they pulled away from their kiss. Aside from making Sean shut up, Ingwer had quite a way for telling him that she did love him.

"I'll go see the wildebeest females." Ingwer got up. "They said I could get some of their milk for my cooking."

"S...sure." Sean watched as the daughter of the Candy Witch walked towards a group of five wilderbeests who must have been females since some of them were feeding their babies and seemed to appreciate Ingwer acting as her usual sweet self towards the foals. The cool November air began to peck his skin and prompted Sean to get up and search through his backpack for a second pair of that uniform that Noir had given him. He also made sure to put on one of his provided chainmail suits underneath his uniform in case he ever got slashed again with claws.

The son of Ursula then spotted Ruby sitting as far away from her friends and the nearest wildebeest as possible by the banks of the Tarrian River. "She'd better not get any funny ideas," he mumbled to himself as he walked towards Ruby. The closer he got, the more he saw that Ruby wasn't alone.

"Biggie!"

The baby Velociraptor spotted her master and rushed towards him as he knelt down. Once the big hands caught the little dinosaur, it began to lick Sean with uttermost joy, clearly happy to have seen him alive and well.

"It's a miracle you're alive," Sean told Biggie as he sat on the grassy floor. "With all the violence we endured with the Indominus, I almost feared that you were squished in my backpack!"

Biggie growled at the mention of Indimia Rex, which made Sean chuckle a bit. He then looked up at Ruby and saw her awfully terrible face that screamed a combination of depression and trauma. The poor girl was fidgeting something: not that blue ring that Martin Fiske gave her, Sean noted, but some sort of weird necklace. A black cord with only some sort of blue bead on it, and for some reason, he could smell the ocean on it.

"I didn't know you were into pearls," he said.

Ruby raised her head up, surprised to see a cured Sean speaking to her. "It doesn't look like a pearl to me," she said as she handed the necklace to Sean, who examined it closely. She watched as he began grating the bead and caused pieces of blue to fall on the ground and reveal a white pearl instead of a bead.

"Gotham painting, it never gets old," Sean said as he admired the pearl. "Unfortunately, I can sense sea-made products, like pearls." He stared closely at the pearl and frowned. "Odd."

"What is it?" Ruby said.

Sean showed her a miniature inscription at the bottom of the pearl: _Property of Martha Wayne_.

"Martha Wayne was the mother of that billionaire Bruce Wayne," Sean said. "Did you know that he..."

" _WE'RE NOT RELATED!_ " Ruby yelled and snatched the necklace out of his hands. She stormed back towards the others.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Sean ran after her. Their argument caught the attention of the others.

"The one unimaginable thing that my mother is the most remembered by! Her relationship with Batman, best known as Bruce Wayne!" She waved angry hands in the air. "Gotham street-thugs theorizing almost every day of the week that Batman might be my dad or, hey, if Batman had a son and since I'm Catwoman's daughter, we'd make an awfully perfect couple because our parents used to be together!" Ruby sighed and dropped onto the ground, crying. "I can't be and am not Batman's kid. If he was, then he wouldn't have left my life, which is what my mom told me for ages."

The others said nothing, for at least have of them knew what Ruby meant about her disdain towards the mere theory that her father could have been Batman. In the Isle of the Lost, Catwoman was quite mocked for being a villain who had quite a romantic affair with the Dark Knight that took part in exiling most of the Gotham supervillains on the Isle of The Lost. Catwoman wasn't the only one to have been ridiculed; there were other villains who were crazy enough to have fallen in love with a hero, but she was the most humiliated for having an actual long relationship. Fortunately for Ruby, she wasn't as misjudged by others as they did to her mother.

"Relax, Ruby," Fork reassured her as he gave her a comforting ruffle in her hair. Ruby looked annoyed while she straightened her hair. "There's no way you are the daughter of some dude dressed in a bat costume."

"I'm not." Ruby glared.

"Technically, it would have been illegal."

The glare that Ruby gave turned into a startled one. "Wait, what?"

Proserpine exchanged nervous glances at Ingwer while Fork explained to Ruby a bit more. "You heard about the term 'reformee' right?" he asked Ruby.

"Well yeah," Ruby said. "That's what villains call antiheroes...and that they don't like it."

"It's more specific." He traced a circle on the ground with his finger and created three ice sticks the size of a wine bottle. "There are three kinds of antiheroes and I'm also including the children born from antiheroes. There's reformed villains," he said as he vertically placed the ice sticks within the circle, "then there's the heroes who lack the heroic skills, and finally there's the progeny of a villain, reformed or not, and a hero, antiheroic or normal." He waved over the standing sticks. "That's your little charming community of antiheroes. They're not pure evil nor are they pure evil..."

"Thèy bàsìcàlly clàìm thèy rèprèsènt thè bàlàncè òf thè unìvèrsè just fòr bèìng ìn thè grày zònè," Proserpine rolled her eyes.

"And villains don't like antiheroes _at all_ ," Ingwer said as she began to pull out her cooking supply in order to make lunch while Proserpine created a fire. "Villains redeeming for love, a fresh new start, or because their bosses were jerks? It's like combining sour cream and vinegar and adding them to a burned crepe."

"And don't get me started with _Saint Luther's Rose Academy_!" Sean stuck his mouth in disgust. "Auradon Prep got the heroes, Dragon Hall the villains, but Saint Luther's Rose Academy got the antiheroic offspring..."

"Guys, could you quit the insults, gagging, and cooking comparisons?" Fork snapped. "I'm trying to explain to Ruby something intellectual here!"

"Fork, it's OK. I get it," Ruby said as she held out her hands in peace. "Villains don't like antiheroes. OK, but what does it have to do with me."

"Right." Fork straightened himself up. "Look, you know how my mom works with the Villainous Council and all, right? She knows how the law works and she usually gives me feedback about it. Anyway, when the Isle of The Lost was being created about twenty years ago, all the villains, living and resurrected, were held in a special containment warehouse before being shipped to the island. That's where and when the Villainous Council's founding fathers began to form so that they could have their own government once they were on the Isle. Before they were shipped, they had a secret meeting with the Auradonian monarchy and the U.N and they all made an agreement: in exchange for the villains to go willingly within the barrier, reformees were forbidden to come in and out."

"Wait, we actually have a _law_ for this?" Sean remarked. "Why weren't we told?"

"My mom said that the secret agreement between the Villainous Council and the...heroic side had to be classified from the public. If it wasn't, then the locals would panic whenever a newcomer came. No one would know who was a reformee or a villain. That's why, until King Ben made his decree of 'giving us a second chance'," Fork air-quoted the five words, "only food and clothing deliverers and the quadrennial authority check-up for the villainous census are allowed to come in and out of the Isle. Villains can't go out and antiheroes simply aren't allowed."

"So how does the Villainous Council know if a newcomer on the Isle is a villain, a hero, or a reformee?" Ingwer cracked five eggs in a bowl and began to mix them with her spatula. "It's not like they'll just give them a big welcoming party and host a banner asking them for a DNA sample."

"Technically, you're half right, Ingwer."

"I am?"

"Yep." The ice prince nodded. "My mom managed to show me once with special permission from Maleficent once my mother got her position in the council. Turns out that the barrier is half-magic and half-science. Half of the combined powers they use are to prevent anybody from escaping while the other half manages to do a DNA analysis of anyone who crosses the barrier to get in. The analysis is then transmitted to a special antenna in Shan Yu's security control center and into a machine that prints out the info and _voilà_."

"Wòw," Proserpine said. Sean whistled.

"So conclusion, Ruby, you wouldn't be on the Isle still alive and walking about freely if you happened to be a reformee!" Fork reassured Ruby and raised his hands out in the air as if Ruby had just won the Wheel of Fortune and he was the show's host.

"Thanks, Fork," Ruby said with a smile that hid her actually half-reassured nature.

" _Excuse me_?"

The quintet turned to see one of the wildebeests that carried them all the way here. Ingwer stopped her cooking in order to see what was going on.

" _There's a group of youngsters who claim to know you._ " The wildebeest moved out of the way to show a trio consisting of two girls and an awfully familiar python.

"Karlos Python," Ruby muttered. Her snappy attitude towards the son of Kaa changed when she saw the girls who came with him. "Sarah? Scarlett?"

"Alley Cat! You're alive!" The girls and Ruby ran to hug one another.

"Looks like I'll be doubling my meat crepes," Ingwer sighed.

 _Later_

"DRAGON HALL CLOSED?" Sean exclaimed. Biggie looked up from the meat crepe she was sniffing with curiosity. The quintet and the visiting trio were sitting by the campfire as Sarah Khan, the daughter of Shere Khan, and Scarlett King, the daughter of Scar the Lion, told them of what was going on.

"Yeah, the attacks increased," Sarah said. She turned to Ruby. "That guy Mulciber you killed after he tried attacking at school? He was most likely a scapegoat. As soon as you five stepped inside the forest, we got more attacks going on. But by the time the last attack we saw took place _outside_ of school, like literally on the front doorsteps, Scarlett and I knew that we had to sneak into the Forest to warn Karlos."

"The worst part?" Scarlett twirled a lock of her long, messy black hair. "The victim was Noir Du Feu."

The quintet gasped in horror.

"Not Noir!" Ruby exclaimed. She grabbed Scarlett by the arms and shook her violently. "Scarlett, you've got to be lying!" Sarah pulled Ruby as gently away from Scarlett as she could.

"Honestly, Alley Cat, as much as I _would_ like to lie about a princess getting attacked since my dad Scar was so good at lying about who killed my uncle, I can't. Especially since Noir is the daughter of one of the leaders of the Villainous Council."

"Napoleon Moriarty was attacked before we left," Fork said. "When was Noir attacked?"

"Three days ago," Sarah said. Scarlett, in the meantime, was trying to straighten up her all-day messy hair.

" _The heirs of the head leaders of the council being successfully targeted is a major deal,_ " Karlos said.

"Whò èlsè wàs attàckèd?" Proserpine asked Scarlett.

"Uh, let's see." Scarlett counted with her fingers. "Yang Bellwether, the son of Dawn Bellwether, and Antoine Bug, the son of Antibug, were both found in the Unfair Negotiation classroom at lunchtime bleeding..."

"Antoine?" Ruby gasped. "But he's Nora's foster brother! Don't tell me..."

"Relax, Alley Cat," Scarlett reassured Ruby. "Your artistic friend and your boyfriend the British simian hottie are unharmed."

Ruby sighed in relief.

"What about Jane?" Fork's forehead began to sweat despite the cool air. "Is she..." Unfortunately for the ice prince, Sarah Khan and Scarlett King both shook their heads. Fork dropped his head in his hands. "I should have stayed back!"

"OK, please do not go all Simba on us!" Scarlett moved away in disgust. "Any who, the Hook twins, their lackey Willa Smee, and the rest of the pirate kids were all attacked by the Dragon Hall Pool. Phedra Figg in the girls' bathroom, and Mavin Peprich in the detention room."

"So for the safety of all the students, Headmaster Facilier had the school closed until further notice." Sarah Khan chewed her meat crepe viciously and wiped the grease off her mouth with her hands to the visible disgust of Ingwer. "Scarlett and I snuck into the Forest in order to give tabs on Karlos since he spends almost every hour running about in this wild land." She smirked at Karlos, who looked indifferently at her gesture.

" _Try to run away from Penna De Mort's goons at every hour and then we'll talk_ ," he muttered. He rolled his serpent eyes before turning back to the quintet, Ruby specifically. " _I was waiting for you five to go upstream of the Tarrian River just to see how far you went by the time Sarah and Scarlett came, but you should have been halfway up by now. Therefore, we went downstream to get back to the jungle until we_ barely _dodged the hyenas at the Elephant Graveyard and just_ barely _learned that the wildebeest herd they were expecting was running late...And the hyenas aren't fans of waiting a long time for the next stampede to come and for their hunting to start_."

"Hyenas, Elephant Graveyard..." Ruby pondered. She glanced at the nearby wildebeests in the herd. The animals glared at Scarlett King as if she had the Black Plague on her and kept their distance from her. "Hey, Scarlett? Is this the same herd that your dad used to kill your uncle?"

The daughter of Scar wrinkled her nose, which had a jagged horizontal scar lining on it. A scar she claimed was inherited from her father but in a different facial part. "The wildebeests aren't really villains, but since they 'kinda' took part in my dad's scheme to kill Mufasa and my cousin Simba, Auradon put them in the accomplice category and the herd was placed in the Infinite Forest of Evil. So yeah, these guys don't like me."

" _You don't have to tell me twice_ ," one of the nearby wildebeests scoffed.

"And since Scar did a last minute betrayal on the hyenas during the Battle of Pride Rock and they kinda ate him, the hyena pack that reside in the Elephant Graveyard also don't like Scarlett," Sarah said. "We only managed to go through that maze of bones because Karlos is friends with them."

The quintet frowned at the humanoid python. "Frìènds?" Proserpine didn't seem to believe it.

" _Rule of the jungle here_ ," Karlos reminded them. " _There's the side that hunts for food and the side that hunts for fun. The hyenas and I understand one another because of the food part._ " He shook his head. " _But that's not the point. You five are still desperate to go up towards De Mort's territory just to go to Nightmare Moon's?_ "

"You think we're here on a cruise?" Sean muttered while Biggie growled in agreement. "Look, I'm better now and we'll leave as soon as possible. After all, we only have to go upstream in a maximum of a week..."

" _Uh, yeah, about that_ ," Karlos chuckled nervously as he scratched his black hair with green-strikes, " _I forgot to mention that there are two ways to go upstream..._ "

He didn't get to finish his sentence because an enraged Ruby began to slap him seven times on each cheek. Sarah Khan and Ingwer had to pull her away from Karlos before she began to hit him with her claws.

"YOU BASTARD OF A SNAKE!" Ruby exclaimed. "You never mentioned anything about a river going upstream in two different ways!"

"Ruby's rìght!" Proserpine defended her. "Àll yòu sàìd wàs thàt ìt wòuld tàkè us àlmòst à wèèk just tò gò upstrèàm..."

" _And I didn't lie,_ " Karlos insisted. He sat up and rubbed his cheeks. " _I swore on the River Styx about the accuracy of the info I gave you. I just assumed that you would have reached the crossroad of the Tarrian River's two main flows and take whichever way leads upward. None of them is wrong compared to the other. Each of them takes at most a week to get to and each of them has four obstacles to go through before reaching the ruins that surround Mount Vesuvius, where Penna De Mort resides._ "

"Let me get this straight." Ingwer held out her hands in order to make a 'time-out' sign. "The Tarrian River goes two ways upstream, each of them with the same amount of obstacles and the same traveling time...And we can pick whichever one?"

" _They all end up joining one another at the main source of the Tarrian River: the moat surrounding Riddle's Graveyard Post. Take whichever way upstream you want, but you'll still end up having to go through that temple in order to get into Penna De Mort's territory and sneak through it until you reach the barbed wire wall that separates her territory from the Everfree Sector_."

"She _really_ doesn't want anybody going through her territory, does she?" Ruby muttered.

"She probably doesn't want anybody near the Everfree Sector either," Scarlett said. "Don't forget: aside from Sirenius Dazzle, she's the only one who's met Artemis Nightmare, the son of Nightmare Moon and the guardian of the border that separates their territories."

"Oh yeah, Crystal told me how much they hate one another."

"Big time."

"We worry about your mission, Ruby," Sarah said. She and Scarlett both had a look of concern on their faces. "I mean, that Slytherin scum of a witch hates Muggles quite badly, but if she's been sending her mooks to hunt you down..."

"I get it! She'll kill me on the spot if I reach the Graveyard Post of her Muggle grandfather!" Ruby was getting annoyed of being reminded that Penna De Mort didn't want her around in her turf. Heck, Ruby might just throw herself back in the ravine and stand there until the wildebeest stampede trampled her into mashed body purée and put her out of her misery.

"You mentioned obstacles in each path," Fork told Karlos. "Do you think you can tell us what they are?"

" _Believe me, none of them are better than the other_." Karlos sighed as he began to trace something that looked like a pointed oval. " _Each way starts in a portion of the Elephant Graveyard and ends at Riddle's Graveyard Point. The east involves the Giant Territory and the Thugee Underground Temple while the west one involves the Mole King's territory and the lake surrounding Fort Boyard..._ "

"Ì dìsrècòmmènd thè èàst!" Proserpine exclaimed. "Làst thìng wè wànt ìs tò bècòmè humàn sàcrìfìcès ànd gò tò Tàrtàrus fòr my fàthèr's pòkèr game!"

Ruby and Sarah exchanged glances. "What is it with her referencing poker games hosted by Hades?"

"Eh...villains who die on the Isle get sent to Tartarus to join the evil gods in their inescapable prison and are tortured with their endless games that last almost all eternity." Sarah shrugged. "And I heard that Hades is an _awful_ cheater."

"Well, then we'll take the west," Sean declared. "How far is the area of the ways' intersection?"

" _About an hour from here_." Karlos pointed at the northern direction of the Tarrian River. " _I'd willingly guide you up the western upstream way of the river, but De Mort has her goons chasing me and I have to run for my life..."_

"Cowardly snake, just like your old man," Scarlett muttered. Karlos gritted his teeth and his green eyes flickered with an aura shaped like a monstrous python floating over his body and increasing in austere attitude as he began to get angry. The quintet cringed at the sight of him glowing with anger until he calmed down and took a deep breath that made his creepy aura evaporate.

" _My apologies_ ," he excused himself. " _My dark gypsy blood occasionally leads me to lose control of my mind when I get angry_." Voices in the group were heard, accepting his apology.

"Sarah and I have to go back," the humanoid lioness said as she and the humanoid tigress got up. "We have to go check up on the others back at the city."

"How will you get there?" Ruby asked in a concerned tone. To answer her question, Sarah pointed towards the ground.

"Extinct volcano tunnels from Bald Mountain go everywhere in the Infinite Forest of Evil via underground," she explained. "Some of them interact with those of Mt Vesuvius, but we avoid those. There quick for traveling but lethal to those who aren't used to traveling in them for more than seven years."

"Figures," Sean muttered.

"Stay safe," Ruby told Scarlett and Sarah as she hugged them. "I don't want you guys to get hurt. Also, do tell Martin that I miss him. But don't tell him yet that I'm being hunted down."

"Lips sealed," Sarah Khan promised. "And watched out for the Scyphozoa."

Ruby and her friends froze at the mention of that brainwashing, memory-stealing virtual beast brought to reality that was said to have gone rogue and be roaming somewhere in the forest.

"Is it close?" Ruby asked nervously.

"Worse. It guards the intersection of the upstream ways of the Tarrian River. There's no way you'll go to Riddle's Graveyard Post in any of the two ways without getting one of you five attacked by that huge jellyfish."


	66. Sucked

Chapter 66: Sucked

After giving their farewells to Scarlett King and Sarah Khan, who went back towards the city that seemed so distant, and giving their gratitude towards the herd, who took its own course towards its own direction, the quintet followed Karlos Python as he led them towards the intersection of the upstream ways. The closer they got to it by the minute, the barer the land got: grass withering until the ground became golden dry packs of dirt, jagged rocks forming pathways even creepier than the ancient ring of stones found in places like England and Scotland, and the air filling up with gray clouds. Humidity hit the skins of the teenagers like a flock of bees stinging them.

"Thìs ìs ìnsànè, hòw càn ànybòdy lìvè lìkè thìs?" Proserpine complained as she used the sleeve of her jacket to rub off the sweat off her forehead.

" _The Infinite Forest of Evil acts on its own rules of nature_ ," Karlos said as he continued to lead the group. " _It's chaotic forces of nature that mankind can't control_..."

"But only the non-human can?" Ruby guessed.

" _Precisely. Ah, here we are. Welcome to the intersection_."

They arrived at the intersection. Mouths were dropped at the sight of the Tarrian River splitting in half, each half a large waterfall rising from two large crooked cliffs opposing one another. Black tar even darker than the one they usually saw in the Tarrian River cascaded downwards into the main stream, gradually changing its tone from pitch black to the normal, familiar greyish black.

"Talk about gunk!" Ingwer sniffed the air and belched, covering her nose. "And talk about smelly! Compared to this, my dad's ogre stench would be cologne!"

" _Extra tip: don't go swimming_ ," Karlos warned. " _Otherwise you'll be joining the numerous prehistoric beasts that drowned in there_." The quintet nodded as they approached the dark sandy beach. Using a nearby stick, Fork dipped it into the river and pulled it back out, watching as the black icky liquid burned the wooden texture into ashes that fell back into the river, creating small popping flames, all in less than five minutes.

"I'm guessing we can't go around?" Sean suggested. He pointed at some sort of arc-shaped mass of land that connected the area they were standing on to the east waterfall, which was their desired path. Unfortunately, as the fog cleared, the mass of land was revealed to be half-destroyed and covered in lumps of solid tar.

Biggie, who was perched on Sean's left shoulder, growled. "You're right, let's not go there."

"Is there any other way to cross it?" Ruby asked Karlos.

" _Only one_." He pointed at the center of the Tarrian River, where a small isle with visible ruins could be seen.

"Àn ìslè wìthìn thè Ìslè òf thè Lòst," Proserpine noted.

" _Never heard_ that _one before_ ," Karlos snickered before getting serious again. " _There's a stone bridge connecting that isle to two mainland stairs, each of them connected to a waterfall. The main obstacle? Crossing the Tarrian River without drowning towards a certain doom_."

"Well that's obvious," Ruby grumbled. "And how are we supposed to cross it if we can't touch it?"

" _Science or magic_ ," Karlos shrugged. " _Whichever one you take, I for one can't cross the Tarrian River. Snakes and tar don't match. It makes slithering more complicated."_

"At least we won't have to worry about running into one of Penna's snakes." Ruby analyzed the branch that Fork had used to dip into the Tarrian River. "Fast burning tar...It kind of reminds me of the tar warehouses from the criminal underground back in Gotham. Yeah, now I remember! Sal Maroni and his thugs once used tar similar to this one and applied them into facial cosmetic products, causing Gotham civilians who bought them to burn out their faces to death. That was during the time of Sal Maroni's gangster war against Carmine Falcone."

"How do you know this stuff other than the fact that you grew up in the streets of Gotham?" Ingwer asked.

"Before she became Catwoman, my mom used to be a common street rat thief. She occasionally dealt with on-and-off affiliations with criminal organizations. Not to mention that at one point I had to steal some of Maroni's product blueprints during my days as the mercenary Shadow Seeker." Ruby grimaced. "Good thing I avoid the Alleys in the Isle of the Lost. Most of the Gotham criminal organizations like Falcone's and Maroni's reside there and _none_ of them like me or my mom."

"Did you find anything about turning burning hot tar into harmless black ink?" Sean frowned. Biggie looked at him weirdly. "Yes, I know I'm lame at puns," he told the baby raptor.

Ruby rubbed her chin as she did a memory jog. "It's kinda complicated...but I remember that at one point in the experiment, they tried to gather the harmless molecules from the tar because it was fatal-effective enough by compressing the molecules into a solid form via intense cold and destroying them in a separate containment in a burning stove. I'm thinking that we use Fork's ice magic to gather all those molecules, if there are any, to create a solid form long and big enough for us to go from here to the isle and perhaps use some of Ingwer's magic to ensure the safety of our cross."

Sean whistled. "Now that's a plan."

"Fork, do you think you can do that?" Ruby asked Fork.

"Well, there are no twenty solutions to finding out." He walked on the dark beach so that he faced the Tarrian River's ghastly waters and stretched his knuckles before holding out his hands as if he were Moses trying to split the Red Sea in half.

It turned out that Ruby's idea worked: as Fork's hands glowed with icy blue auras that he used to blast at the river, the tar water moved in swirls captured in ice until it turned into a floating pathway made of black ice that reached all the way down towards the isle.

Proserpine put a cautious step on the icy pathway before putting her full body on top of it. "Thìs lòòks sècurè!" She gave a thumbs-up until Fork began to wobble.

" _Your friend is starting to collapse_ ," Karlos warned as he helped the ice prince remain on his feet. " _You'll probably have to go with Hexe's magic to keep the pathway floating_." He passed Fork over to Sean. " _I, for my part, have to go. De Mort will sense my presence if I go any closer north."_ He quickly transformed into a python and slithered back the way he came from until he was out of sight.

"That snake's a coward, but he is quite helpful for a cold-blooded backstabber," Sean remarked before asking Ingwer: "Can you use your magic?"

"With the power of my mom's spoon? Yep!" Ingwer pulled out the Candy Witch's magic spoon and waved it in the air, causing a purplish pink aura to appear as she recited an incantation. " _To nibble or not to nibble, make this pathway move and float like a bubble_."

Pink light snaked around the pathway and made it float easily like a boat across the river with its six passengers on board.

"Nice magic," Ruby complimented Ingwer as they got closer to the isle.

"We'll have to jump off the pathway all together as soon as we reach the isle," Ingwer warned as she put her magic spoon back in her backpack. "Don't ask."

They didn't ask. After around a couple minutes of crossing the river, they reached the coast of the small isle. On Ingwer's count of three, they all jumped out of the pathway, which exploded as soon as Ingwer, being the first to jump out of the bubble, made her jump onto the isle's mainland. The explosion caused a geyser worthy exposition that sent the teenagers flying towards the ground.

"You OK, Biggie?" Sean checked to see if Biggie was alright and sighed when he saw that she was still safe and securely gripping herself to his backpack.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking!" A still tired Fork grunted. Sean apologized once he saw that he accidently landed on Fork as if the latter were some sort of cushion and helped the ice prince get up.

"Wòw, yòu wèrèn't jòkìng whèn yòu sàìd _'mòvè ànd flòàt lìkè à bubblè_ ', Ìngwer," Proserpine told her friend as they dusted the dirt and sand off their jackets.

"That's the thing about witchcraft. You need to do rhymes in order to make a spell work. And I'm afraid that 'bubble' was the only word I could find currently that went with 'nibble'."

"I thought it was great," Sean smiled at Ingwer, making the young witch blush.

"Uh guys?" Ruby called them. "You've got to see this."

 _Seconds later_

A series of ancient columns formed out of tiles that appeared to spread out of the columns and form stone ladders on each side, giving the columns both a crippled and an abstract conception. The columns were placed around a mini ancient Greek-like theater that was carved into the earth as if Mother Earth had received a weird pimple. There was no sign of vegetation.

"Èìthèr thìs ìs òne òf thòsè stànd-up tràgèdy thèàtèrs thàt thèy hàvè ìn Tàrtàrus òr sòmèbòdy hàs nò sènsè òf gàrdènìng." Proserpine touched one of the columns as they walked towards the small area of ruins that decorated the isle.

"Stand-up tragedy?" Sean frowned. "Is that the ancient Greek version of stand-up comedy, only with more...tragedy?"

"Whàt dò yòu thìnk, Pòlyp Bràìns?" the demigoddess rolled her eyes at the cecaelia.

"Uh, guys?" Fork pointed at the other end of the isle. Just about twenty feet away, they saw the stone bridge that connected the isle to the two cliff stairs, with the west one interesting them the most.

"No, this would just be too easy..." Ruby rubbed her chin. "There's got to be a trap involved."

Biggie suddenly sniffed and ran up Sean's head, sniffing the air once again and giving a growl.

"Uh oh. Guys, the last time Biggie acted this way, we got into trouble..." Sean stopped talking when he and the others felt the ruined tiled floor shaking. In less than a minute, one by one, the tiles ripped themselves away from the ground and began floating and moving around, forming shapes and forms by moving together like a swarm of hives.

"Ruby, you should have shut your mouth about traps!" Sean slapped away floating tiles aiming at him and Ingwer while Fork and Proserpine were busy melting or freezing the tiles into ashes that flew in the air and into ice chunks that broke into several pieces once gravity dragged them to the ground.

Their efforts were valiant but surpassed. More tiles came and started to imprison the teenagers, excluding Ruby, into a cage made of tiles. Once the cage was formed, the tiles fused together until it looked like a birdcage carved out of a rock and imprisoning the enemy.

"Guys!" Ruby called out.

"Thìs ròck wòn't budgè!" Proserpine frantically tried slashing the stone bars with her fiery fists to no avail.

"Hang on! I'm coming!" Ruby ran towards the cage, holding out her claws in order to prepare slashing through the bars with them. But before she could reach the cage, the ground moved and shook until it turned into a flat surface that dragged a screaming Ruby towards the small theater as if she were sliding down a slide that would lead her to a bottomless pit. Once her butt hit the theater's flat pavement, the ground shook once more and the theater, along with Ruby, move downwards into the earth like an ancient elevator and kept doing so until it imprisoned Ruby in a cylindrical pit that was at least ten feet below the blue sky covered grown.

"Ruby, are you OK?" Ingwer shouted from above.

"I'm alright!' Ruby called back. "But I'm stuck..."

Something moved on the dirt wall. It lowered down like a doorway until Ruby saw its dark opening. She slowly attempted to make a step forward until a noise coming from the pathway. The noise got closer as a thing about 10 meters tall floated towards Ruby, petrified by the shape of the monster that made her memories trigger at the last minute at an old memory from before this quest started.

That did not stop the monster from attacking her.

 _Meanwhile_

A scream followed by silence coming from the pit entrapping Ruby reached the ears of her four friends, still locked up in the stone cage.

"We have to get out of here!" Sean tried punching his way through the bars with his fist. He ended up getting bruises on his knuckles.

"Sòmèbòdy fìgurè òut sòmèthìng!" Proserpine raised her hands in the air before looking down at her feet. "Hèy, Pòlyp Bràìns! Whàt thè hèll ìs yòur ràptòr doing?"

The teenagers looked down at Biggie, who was busy digging her way through the soil ground that the group stood on in the stone cage.

"Biggie, your a genius! We'll just dig our way out! Everyone search for a digging tool in your backpack!" Sean and the others began to search through their stuff.

"I found a shovel!" Fork pulled a beach toy shovel. "Never mind."

"Uh...for some reason, I have a grey shoe heel in my bag." Ingwer frowned as she pulled out a grey chunky heel that was probably ripped off its original shoe on purpose. Her eyes looked at a small design on the heel. "T.S.S? What the heck is that?"

"Hold your horses!" Sean snatched the heel of Ingwer's hands and fidgeted around it until a _click_ was heard and a small activated drill popped out of the heel.

"A titanium piercing drill shoe heel!" Sean exclaimed. "Tara Sam Scam must have placed it in Ingwer's backpack at some point while our supplies were being prepared."

"Typìcàl fòr thè dàughtèr òf Tìm Scàm," Proserpine said. "Rèmìnd mè tò sènd hèr à thànk yòu càrd."

 _A few minutes later_

It took about six minutes for Sean to use Tara Sam Scam's titanium piercing drill shoe heel to dig a tunnel out of the cage and into the earth, creating a passage towards the pitted theater for him and the others.

"I'm never underestimating the power of a good accessory," Fork chuckled as he got out of the tunnel.

"Me neither," Sean grinned. "Who said chunky heels should be illegal?"

"Uh...guys?" A horrified Ingwer pointed ahead of them. "What...what is that...thing?"

They followed her pointing finger, which aimed at the center of the theater, just a few feet away from them, where a 10 meters tall monster floated. At first, they only saw the back of that bundle of black silver and bloody pink that made it look like a bleeding robot. Just seeing how big and dark it was terrifying the teenagers.

"I have no idea what this is, but for some reason it smells like seafood." Sean tilted his head in order to have a peak at what the beast could possibly be watching while having its back turned on possible aggressors. Biggie jumped off Sean's shoulder and raced towards the creature. "BIGGIE, NO!" Sean ran after his pet with the others tagging along and hit the brakes when they saw Biggie playing a game of tug-of-war with one of the monster's leg.

Correction: one of the monster's _tentacles_. And now that they were closer to the creature, they realized that it was a giant armored jellyfish in the middle of using five of its tentacles to make something hover and become entrapped within the tentacles while two others were connected to the something's temples and sucking out what appeared to be black and white fluids.

" **RUBY!** " The teenagers realized that the something was none other than Ruby, trapped in some sort of dazing trance while the huge jellyfish was busy sucking something out of her.

"Sarah Khan wasn't kidding about the Scyphozoa guarding the intersection and attacking one of us." Fork gulped as he continued to watch the Scyphozoa while the beast continued her business with Ruby. "Nor was X.E.N.I.A Vi Rus kidding when she said it went rogue."

"Ànd thàt ìt gòt ìts òwn pòwèrs!" Proserpine closed her eyes and put her hands on her temples, forming triangles as she meditated before reopening her eyes. "Guys, wè hàvè tò gèt rìd òf ìt! Ìt's suckìng Ruby's blòòd òut!"

"But I thought the Scyphozoa only stole memories and brainwashed people into turning evil!" Ingwer told Proserpine. "And how are we supposed to defeat it? It's even more armored than a Hun!"

"Wait, what's it doing?" Fork's words got their attention and they watched as the Scyphozoa removed its tentacles from Ruby, making the unconscious girl fall on the ground. and floated away into a pathway in the earth that disappeared as soon as the huge jellyfish went through it.

"Am I the only one who's got a feeling of déjà vu?" Sean frowned. Ingwer, for her part, rushed towards Ruby and knelt down as she tried to wake up Ruby by shaking her on the shoulders.

"Ruby? Ruby, come on! Snap out of it! Wake up!" Ingwer shook frantically. It was no use: Ruby still wouldn't wake up. Proserpine joined Ingwer and placed an ear on Ruby's chest.

"So?" Ingwer begged the daughter of Hades for a response.

"Ruby's stìll brèàthìng, but wìth àll thè blòòd suckèd òut by thè Scyphòzòa, Ì àfràìd thàt Ruby wìll dìe fròm à làck òf òxygèn duè tò thè fàìlurè òf hèr cìrculàtòry systèm." A black tear began to fall of her eyes.

"No!" Ingwer broke into tears.

"It can't be!" Sean sniffed while Biggie whimpered. The light suddenly began to darken, much to the group's confusion, and when they looked up, they saw what appeared to be an enlarging cloud that eventually revealed to be a flock of bats that flew straight at the group. Screaming at the sight of the flying rodents, the teenagers tried to fight them off and Biggie managed to bite down one of them while the flock spun them into a tornado of swirling bats.

" _JUST OUR LUCK, WE GET A LAST MINUTE OMEN OF DEATH WITH THOSE CREATURES!_ " Sean yelled. " _WHAT'S NEXT?_ "

"Wait a second..." Ingwer made the others pause. "If these bats are a bad omen, then why are they safely putting us back on the main surface?"

The others frowned at first, but after a few quick glances, they understood what Ingwer was saying: none of them had paid attention to what the bats were really doing. Instead of harming the group via a batty tornado, the bats were actually lifting the group out of the pit and back up on the isle. Ingwer and the others sighed in relief once they stepped on the familiar stone floor.

"Hey, what are they doing to Ruby?" Fork pointed at some of the bat flock that were formatting into a position that helped them lift and rest the slowly-dying Ruby onto the ground as if she were Snow White being carried in a bed made of bats instead of sheets.

"I don't know," Sean said suspiciously, "but it doesn't seem like they mean her harm. Look."

The bats that had carried Ruby crawled around her until about twelve of them were facing or clinging on each of her harms. One by one in a synchronizing fashion, they sunk their teeth into Ruby's skin. Each bat sunk its teeth in Ruby's arm for two minutes before flying off and passing the job to another. Eventually, after almost half an hour, Ruby began to look more alive and breathed normally. The only thing was that she was still unconscious, but asleep this time.

"Thè bàts wèrè suckìng blòòd bàck ìn hèr vèìns," Proserpine said as she checked on Ruby before lifting her in her arms. "Lèt's gò!"

"Thank you!" Ingwer shouted gratefully at the bat flock as it ignored them and flew away into the night while the teenagers went back on schedule and got out of the isle by taking the stone bridge and walking up the western stairs. As they walked towards a certain upcoming doom, they were all still wondering of what was up with the two blood-sucking species and why they both got involved with Ruby Kyle.


	67. Dreamt

Chapter 67: Dreamt

Ruby felt like she had been standing in darkness like a stone statue ever since that weird, giant jellyfish attacked her. Was this real? It couldn't be. It was humid on the small temple isle and she could here things, but in this dark abyss, she couldn't hear or feel anything. And yet, it couldn't be unreal because she was standing on _some_ sort of flat surface. Otherwise, she'd be falling.

"Anyone here?" Ruby called out to the darkness. "Sean? Ingwer? Proserpine? Fork? Biggie?" The only sounds she heard was her voice's own echo. Oh God, she couldn't be...

"Noir? Mystère? Penny? Flo?" Why on earth was she calling out to her friends back in the city? They couldn't possibly hear her! "Martin? Bates? Lord Fiske?" Now she was getting desperate. "Mal? Evie? Jay? Carlos? Gabriel? Xaos? Kory? Macy? Haya?" What was wrong with Ruby? She was calling out names of people she never knew but heard of and the names were somehow banging in her head. "Ben? Audrey? Jane? Gitane? Avery? LONNIE? WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?"

Ruby felt her head throbbing and screamed in pain. Her hands dug into her hair as she fell onto her knees and kept hearing names echoing in her head. Blood was starting to stain her hazel hair as her adamantium nails began to sink in her skull and madness began to electrocute her mind.

Something appeared out of nowhere in the middle of this infernal darkness, urging Ruby to look up from her painful agony and see a peculiar creature in front of her. A large cat with the size of a puma but with the appearance of a Siamese house cat stood before her. Due to its body emitting multicolored neon lights like a cat-shaped disco ball, it was hard for Ruby to fail at noticing it.

She got up on her feet and stared at the feline apparition. The neon creature did respect the rule of cat characteristics since it had bright yellow eyes and black thin irises, but for some reason, its fur seemed to be moving.

"Are you...real?" Ruby blinked. She took a step closer and the puma unexpectedly exploded, turning into a cloud of flying, neon bats.

"NOT AGAIN!" She complained. The bats began to fly away, past her right, and deeper into the darkness. "HEY, WAIT UP! I NEED EXPLANATIONS!" Her feet started running after that flock of bright bats, ignoring the darkness surrounding her and just focusing on following those bats that tormented her. In a twisted way, Ruby was starting to understand how Alice felt when she ran after a white rabbit that led her to have a head concussion via falling down a rabbit hole.

Speaking of hole, the bat flock began to split up and fly in a square form as if to form an opening made of rainbow lights. Ruby hit the brakes when she was six inches away from the rainbow opening.

"You must be joking." She glared at the flying rodents, who continued to fly in their formation to preserve the opening. Ruby looked once more at the opening, which moved like liquid chemicals until it froze and showed a colorful reflection of a skeptical Ruby standing in the darkness. "Oh no...Oh come on! You expect me to go through _this_?"

Ruby glared at the bats, whose little black eyes seem to be telling her that they don't have all day so hurry up and put your foot in that thing. She sighed in frustration before taking ten steps backward and ran towards the opening, making her body move straight through the colorful glass. it was weird, really: it felt as if she was emerging out of Tarrian River with tar sticking on her skin again rather than moving through colors that didn't even stick on her. Speaking of colors, they were initially a big mess like a palette full of unused paint mixed together, but they began to move and take shapes until they started to form...

"A...nursery?" Ruby realized what the hell she just stepped before oddly feeling comfortable. Unlike the darkness she recently got out, the nursery was quite lovely. The walls were painted with a rich, creamy peach color that went well with the white lace curtains that moved with the small breeze that came out of the slightly open window. Ruby's boot touched the soft brown carpet floor as she walked through the room like a ghost. All the white shelves and furniture were full of toys, baby caring accessories, clothes, and other wonders that Ruby never recalled having in her life and didn't even see in any place on the Isle of the Lost with babies.

" _Hello there, Rebecca._ "

Ruby stiffened. Somebody in this nursery knew her name. She looked to her left and saw a man with his back turned at her as if she didn't even exist. All she could tell about this man was that he had dark hair and wore a white blouse shirt over his black pants and shoes. Judging by their fabric quality, this man must be rich.

"Uh, excuse me?" Ruby asked the man. "Do I.."

A small cooing voice interrupted her, making Ruby realize what the man was facing.

A traditional, white fancy baby crib from which more of the cooing came from. Ruby watched as the man leaned down to pick up something from the crib and lift some sort of bundle out of it. Said bundle was the thing making all the cooing she recently heard.

" _How's my little bundle of joy_?" the man asked whatever he was holding. He lifted the bundle a little bit higher, good enough for Ruby to see over his shoulder that he was holding...

"A baby?" Ruby's eyes widened at the sight of the baby and felt a bit jealous. Not because the baby wasn't adorable in that small plum colored, purple lily patterned baby full body pajama and the usual baby cuteness that no one could ever resist, but because the baby seemed to obviously have a loving relationship with the man who was probably her father. And knowing Ruby, she never knew what the joys of having a father were.

" _It's alright, sweetie. Mommy's still resting from her time at the hospital,"_ the man teased his baby by poking the small infant's nose, making the child laugh. " _You gave her some tough love when you came to us last week._ "

"Aw, the baby's a week old..." Ruby sighed despite the fact that no one was listening to her.

" _Don't worry, Daddy's here for you_ ," the man told his child. He placed a kiss on its forehead. " _Daddy will always be here for you and love you no matter what, Rebecca_."

The nursery began to shatter around Ruby, ruining the touching scene as the darkness began to return.

"W...What?" Ruby was petrified. She stared at the nearly destroyed image of the baby being placed back to bed by her father, giving Ruby a chance to glimpse at the infant's tuff of hazel hair and equally colored eyes that soon went back to sleep.

"It can't...be..." Some sort of horned shadow made of stars pointed its scepter at a calendar hanging on a wall of the dissolving nursery. The calendar was for the month of July sixteen years ago and had a circle on a specific day of that month that Ruby realized was...the day of her birthday.

Which meant...

"Dad?" Ruby stared at the disappearing man who still had his back turned on her.

" **HEY, BLOODSUCKED! WAKE UP!"**

The dream shattered into a thousand mirror shards as Ruby woke up.


	68. Destined

Chapter 68: Destined

"OUCH!" Ruby groaned out loud as she jerked herself up, sending a gazillion blasts of pain down her spine as if she had been sitting on an electric chair for hours.

"Yo, blood sucked!" A man's voice snapped her out of her painful misery. "Do bother ruining our work at anytime of the day!"

"Uh?" Ruby looked at her surroundings. She was inside some sort of dirt hut with a ceiling made of straw full of stone pottery, bones hanging from the ceiling via strings like a skeleton mobile, and the air smelling like raw meat. Her hands touched the area she was resting on and saw that she was resting on a fur blanket that separated her from the bed crafted out of elephant tusks and skulls. "Am I...in the Elephant Graveyard?"

"Right you are, girl." A grey-skinned woman dressed in a red Swahili dress and walking barefooted came from the hut's small fireplace, bringing a bowl full of raw meat chunks that nearly made Ruby want to vomit just from seeing them. A dirty brown scarf held up her black Afro hair and yet strands of hair were still wildly sticky out. As she got closer to the tusk bed, Ruby noticed the black spots that wormed down the back of the woman's neck like a black version of the chicken pox.

"Ouch!" She tried sitting up, only to get the shots of pain again.

"The Scyphozoa really got you nasty there," the woman said as she pulled a stool to sit on by Ruby. She proceeded to loosen a set of bandages that were wrapped around Ruby's waist and release a chunk of meat that had apparently been attached to Ruby's skin as if she were being used to make sushi.

"Why do I have meat sticking on me?" She asked the woman, who replaced the chunk with a new one from the bowl. Ruby squirmed at the sensation of the cold raw meat hitting her and being wrapped up by cleaner bandages.

"Your friends came into our territory six hours ago," the woman said as she continued to meat wrap Ruby on her legs, arms, and forehead, also granting Ruby the notice that she had been stripped down to her underclothes. "Ursula's boy was carrying you while you were knocked out unconscious and the others gave my village a dead, full deer they killed on the road in order to get our hospitality..."

"That deer _was_ quite tender," the male from earlier said. Ruby looked up from her medical attention to see a male version of the woman, only bald, bearing a Swahili tribal outfit and crowned by a necklace made of diverse bones, sitting on a wooden armchair a few feet away from the bed. He got up and walked towards the women, past the one sitting on the chair, and stopped when he faced Ruby. Much to the latter's discomfort, he briefly leaned in to sniff at her currently messy hair and pulled back, licking his lips. "You know, I'd bet you be quite tasty right now. What are you, one hundred in weight? Judging by the sizes of those boobsters and humpy beauties, you'd be making guys go nuts for you."

It's a good thing that Ruby had spied on stripper clubs during her Shadow Seeker days to know how the male audiences treated and called female employees and strippers verbally and physically, because she was disgusted by the way the Swahili man was calling her the same way the male audiences called those shameless women. She slapped him hard on the cheek, scratching his skin with her claws to show that she wanted him to back off.

"What the Hell?" She exclaimed at the man as he held his bloody cheek in pain.

"BANZAI! GET OUT **NOW**!" The Swahili woman shouted at the man, who turned out to be Banzai. "GO MESS AROUND WITH THE OTHER FEMALES OF OUR TRIBE! NOT OUR GUESTS!"

Banzai muttered something in Swahili and left the hut with his hand still holding the cheek area that Ruby scratched. As soon as he left, the woman grabbed her bowl full of used meat and took it back to her kitchen. "Sorry about my husband here. He thinks more through his mouth than with his brain." The woman tapped her index finger on her temple. "I'm Shenzi, by the way."

"Shenzi, Banzai..." It then hit Ruby. "You're one of the hyenas who served Scar back in the old days?"

"Pretty much." Shenzi tossed the meat into a pot of boiling water that was sitting in the fireplace. Sizzling noises could be heard as Shenzi used a femur bone to still the content. "Honestly, we hyenas aren't really evil. We we're just doing our part in the food chain, hunting and eating for survival. But when food ran out, we got desperate..."

"And you had the events of Pride Rock that eventually led to you eating Scar because he tried framing you and your pack for his crimes." Ruby recalled her friend Scarlett telling her that the hyenas didn't like her because of her father Scar's betrayal, so she didn't dare to bring up Scarlett King unless she wanted to become the next dinner of the hyenas.

"You just saved me ten minutes of telling you the story of my life!" Shenzi sighed gratefully while she chopped some roots and tossed them in the pot. "Anyway, despite the fact that we rid the world of that lion king, Auradon still saw us as evil accomplices because we tried eating Simba, triggered the stampede that killed his father, almost ate everything in the food chain, and we got charged for cannibalism thanks to dear old Scar. And speaking of the Devil, you know what's the first thing he did once he and the rest of my pack were shipped here?"

"Uh...no?"

"A RESTRAINING ORDER, THAT'S WHAT!" Shenzi angrily stirred in some sort of crushed fruit in her cooking. "While he got his own house in the city and his blasted progeny gets to go in and out of the Infinite Forest of Evil, my pack is forced to remain here, obliged to wait until the wildebeest stampede comes into our neighborhood to hunt for whatever preys the Indominus Rex clan didn't kill for sport and get our babies stolen..."

"Stolen babies?"

Ruby's question hit Shenzi hard for she had dropped the femur bone onto the floor and looked like she was going to cry.

"I'm sorry," Ruby quickly said. "It's none of my business..."

"Actually, it is." Shenzi dipped the bowl into the pot and pulled it out once it was filled with broth. "I know you're Catwoman's daughter. Your friend Ingwer -really nice girl, by the way. Knows how to cook- told me so when you five came in the neighborhood. Judging by your history, you're the only one that can solve my pack's problem..."

"How the Hell am I supposed to know what you're talking about?"

To answer her question, Shenzi walked towards a curtain and pulled it, revealing a window. Ruby struggled but managed to get out of bed and walk in her bandaged body towards the window. "Look out there and tell me what you see," Shenzi said.

The human looked one more time at the humanoid hyena before looking through the window. She saw numerous huts similar to Shenzi's, about twenty maximum, crowded with one another and leaving a big circular space to serve as a central plaza and bonfire gathering. Many villagers like Shenzi and Banzai could be seen carrying jugs of water and waiting in line to reach a well, weaving tapestries, making pottery, or dissecting whatever game they caught in their hunting party. But as Ruby observed even further from the window, she noticed that almost everyone in the hyena village was old, with the youngest ones being close to their mid-twenties or early thirties like Ruby's own mother or old enough to be the grandparents of Yzma.

"Where are the children?" Ruby asked Shenzi in a sad tone.

"They were taken," Shenzi spat angrily as she looked at the village, "by the Devil and by Death." The way Shenzi looked so furious with her eyes full of hatred made Ruby equally bitter.

"Why on Earth would Penna De Mort want hyena cubs?" Ruby demanded. "When did this happen?"

"About six or seven years ago." Shenzi pulled the curtain in order to hide the window. "By the end of this week, it will be the anniversary of when she adopted that creepy clown..."

Ruby's history, hyenas, creepy clowns...From what Catwoman had told Ruby back when they lived in Gotham, the Joker and Harley Quinn had two pet hyenas that followed their orders and were more vicious than hounds. It would make sense why Jessie Joker would receive hyena cubs for pets, but why would Voldemort's daughter of all the people give her minion such presents? And what was it about adoption?  
"You mean you never knew back in the city?" Shenzi asked. "They never told you that the Joker and Harley Quinn are dead?"

"They're...dead?" It was rather alarming and nor reassuring. Personally, Ruby felt content to have never met the arch-foe of her mother's ex-lover. The Joker was probably the world's top-ranked psychopath, and as for Harley Quinn...Ruby still never understood how a psychotic being like the Joker could twist an expert with a PHD in Psychology into a hopeless lunatic. Despite this, Ruby didn't like the idea of anybody being dead or killed, especially if it left a child as an orphan.

"How the Hell do you kill Joker and Harley Quinn?" Ruby sat down on a chair. "My mom said those lunatics were unkillable..."

"You can if you're Penna De Mort." Noises of vultures squawking in a strange fashion, as if they were imitating a church organ during a funeral, and flying above the village were heard. "You hear those varmints? Can you hear the awful noises they make? They only do that when she's killed someone. When Penna killed the Jokers, we heard those..."

"Penna... _murdered Joker and Harley Quinn_?" Ruby nearly gagged herself from exclaiming those words. "How? Why?"

"Bud and Lou, distant hyena cousins, were Joker's pets since the dawn of his crimes. When he and Harley Quinn got transferred from Gotham to the Isle of the Lost, Bud and Lou were the only hyenas that the Council allowed in the city since they were..."

"Domesticated?"

"I was going to say 'animal labored', but let's go with that. Any way, Bud and Lou would occasionally come and visit us in our village. You should have seen us, back then. Our village had _plenty_ of hyena cubs to go around. But I'm getting off topic.

"Almost fifteen years ago, Lou came alone. Told us that Joker needed Bud to keep watch of Harley Quinn, since that red and black clown had her tummy full of one extra addition to their family..."

"Jessie Joker," Ruby guessed. Shenzi gave her the bowl of soup that she had prepared earlier.

"Yep. Years followed and our cousins told us at every visit how nasty that Joker Junior turned out. Her father was the second most abusive parent in the universe after Voldemort himself: he beat her if she never managed to do anything that humored him, forced her to take annual baths in the same chemicals that made him go nuts, and by the time she was six, she was already crazy enough to start building her own grenades with whatever she could find in the kitchen."

"What about Harley in all of this?" Ruby sank her spoon into the mud colored soup.

"World's worst mother. Lou told me that her mistress was just as hopeless towards her daughter as she was with her husband. In her perspective, her 'Puddin Junior' was growing up to be just like her beloved 'Mister J'.

"Then, now seven years ago, when the brat turned eight, Lou was watching Jessie for Joker while the kid went out to play in one of the parks in the city. I still don't understand how it happened, but Jessie managed to catch Penna De Mort observing the other villains from the shadows and began to troll her around like an obnoxious kid would do to an adult." Suddenly, Ruby spat the soup out of her mouth. "Too bitter?" Shenzi guessed.

"Worse than chlorine and vinegar," Ruby gasped.

"Well chin up 'cause your body needs those fluids," Shenzi told her toughly. "It's a miracle that a witch like Penna managed to tolerate eight-year-old Jessie Joker. Knowing how she grew up in a horrible lifestyle thanks to Voldemort and got his racist point of views, she could have easily killed off a Muggle like Jessie Joker. But Lou said that De Mort was doing things like rolling her eyes and demanding Jessie why the hell was Jessie following her when she could easily kill. And I quote the little Joker's quotes: 'Because you're mean and I like you!'"

"That's sick," Ruby said while she struggled to finish her soup. "I'm guessing this is the part where they do some sort of evil bonding activity that makes Jessie Joker go back home and tell her parents that she met her own version of Mister J?"

"Yep. And that's the part where Joker and Harley Quinn kicked her out of their house."

Ruby spat her soup out of her mouth again, but this time out of actual shock. "Wait, what?"

"You heard me. The Jokers thought like other villains that Penna De Mort was a walking Devil that ruined everything she touched, so when Jessie went back home and told them that she met and 'befriended' Penna De Mort, they thought she was contaminated and kicked her out into the street, banning her from their house and shunning them as their daughter. Can you guess what happened then?"

"I can." Ruby gave the now empty bowl back to Shenzi. "Penna De Mort took Jessie in and now Jessie's her loyal minion in exchange. I've seen how devoted she is. But not _Harley Quinn_ devoted."

"Good thing, too. Anyway, it doesn't seem like De Mort just took her in in order to get a minion. Nah, we think she might have felt some mutual sympathy concerning parental abandonment, so she adopted her and raised her as her own. And what really, but disturbingly pleased Jessie was when Penna De Mort made her parents pay by killing them off in their house. Bud and Lou weren't spared."

"I'm sorry," Ruby sighed. "Looks I now know why Jessie is so crazy and why Penna has a Muggle like her around. But did anybody notice at all that the Jokers were missing?"

"Nope," Shenzi shrugged. She threw the bowl in a bucket of water and left it to go join Ruby. "Honestly, with all the crazy things going on from the Isle's creation to King Ben's declaration and the fact that he didn't have Batman around to fight, Joker wasn't his full self and mostly stayed in in house."

"So, Penna De Mort is Jessie Joker's guardian and she's been stealing hyena cubs for her. Why for the last part?"

"Back when the Jokers were still alive, Bud and Lou had a litter of hyena cubs that Jessie Joker treasured and kept around as pets. Lou told me that Jessie treated them as if the cubs were her own babies the same way Harley Quinn treated Bud and Lou. But when Jessie got kicked out, Joker thought that her pets were equally contaminated so he killed the cubs. Hearing that her father murdered her babies devastated Jessie for weeks, we could still hear her sobbing all over the Isle. So, to calm her down, De Mort got her a new, bigger litter: all the newborns in my village."

Shenzi's fingers clawed down on her dress, nearly tearing the fabric, while her teeth were gritting and her eyes burning with tears of hatred. "Every year, it's the same thing! De Mort has taken our babies without asking our opinion! Our elders suffered her Cruciatus Curse when they tried protecting their family's young ones! Our women are now afraid to breed and our numbers are decreasing! And who knows what could be happening to our babies in the hands of Jessie Joker right now?" She looked up at Ruby with her dark eyes and poked the girl's forehead. "Then _you_ came, you, the very bane of De Mort's evil herself! As soon as I saw you and your friends carrying you to our village, you who has defied all the evil rules of the Forest against all odds and been saved by the bite of the Joker's bane, I knew right away why you were here! It was destiny promised by the hyena djinns!"

"Uh, I'm not sure I'm following you," Ruby paused Shenzi. "What destiny?"

"To save us all, to save everyone...TO DEFEAT PENNA DE MORT!"

"Hate to break it to you, but you got the wrong hero from the wrong place at the wrong time." Ruby got up and grabbed her clothes, which were folded and laying on the dining table all this time. "I'm just a street rat who still doesn't know why the Council chose her to go on a quest to Nightmare Moon's territory to find out why descendants are getting attacked and their marks of villainy graydified. I don't even have my own mark and can't understand why I have weird visions and bats chasing me around ever since I got into this blasted forest..."

"Destiny..." Shenzi said in a singsong tone.

"Look, I'll try to get your pups back, but _please_ stop ranting about destiny!" Ruby left the hut as soon as she got fully dressed.

"If you want answers, ask Artemis Nightmare once you get to the Everfree Sector!" Shenzi shouted out to her. "He knows everything! He knows _your destiny_!"

"WILL YOU SHUT UP ABOUT DESTINY?" Ruby screamed back at her, ignoring the passing villagers' stares as she reached her friends, who were waiting for her with Banzai at the gates of the village.

"Ruby, thank good-" Ingwer began.

"I'm fine! Let's go!" Ruby pushed away Ingwer. "You're wife's a nutter," she told Banzai.

"Yeah, she got this after De Mort took her babies during the last two years," Banzai said casually.

He watched as the teenagers left the village and shouted at them. "GOOD LUCK!"


	69. Holed

Chapter 69: Holed

It was the end of the afternoon after the five descendants began to arrive in a prairie field after walking for hours away from the hyena village in the Elephant Graveyard.

"It's getting dark," Ingwer said. "We'd better make shelter. We can resume traveling at dawn."

"If we're still alive," Sean muttered as he roughly put his bag on the grassy field. Biggie jumped off his shoulders and curiously sniffed at the yellow and white flowers that were surrounding her. After a couple sniffs, she tried biting a flower stem, only to spit it out of her mouth and growl in disgust. Sean, amused by his pet's silliness, pulled out a piece of raw meat and gave it to Biggie, who didn't blink at eating it on the spot.

Meanwhile, Proserpine was noticing that Ruby wasn't cooperating in helping set up the camp and was instead sitting on the ground, her arms hugging her arms, as if she was desperately trying to console herself from endless trauma.

"Yòu òkày?" the demigoddess asked as she sat down next to Ruby. "Yòu lòòk wòrsè thàn usuàl."

"I'm going nuts, Pro," Ruby groaned. "First almost everything wants to kill me ever since this quest started, a hyena tells me that I'm destined to be the downfall of Voldemort's daughter and I should ask Artemis Nightmare about it, and now I'm seeing things in my head."

"Wèll, Ì càn't hèlp yòu àbòut yòur dèàth pròblèm..."

"Aren't you the daughter of the death god?" Ruby frowned.

"Ì'm nòt à gòd: Ì dòn't hàvè ìnfìnìtè pòwèrs..." Proserpine wrinkled her nose with uneasiness, which made Ruby wonder a bit off her personal thoughts and back to the past.

"When the Big One was dying, she told you to 'not hesitate to confront death'." Ruby stared at Proserpine in disbelief as she said the words: "Pro, you're...afraid to die?" The daughter of Hades said nothing, but the way she was pulling her frizzy hair as if to straighten it (which she _never_ did) basically sold the truth out.

Proserpine sighed: "My mum wàs lìkè yòurs. Shè gòt shìppèd tò Àrkhàm. Èxcèpt mìnè wàs gèttìng thè hystèrìa thàt mòst mòrtàl wòmèn gèt whèn thèy slèèp wìth à gòd. Èspècìàlly ònè whò's àlrèàdy màrrìed."

Ruby nodded when she got the part of Proserpine mentioning the latter's presumed stepmother, Persephone. "Were you called Proserpine because your dad or your grandma didn't want Persephone to get mad at you because her husband slept with your mom?"

"Nàh, Zèus hàd thèm dìvòrcèd whèn the Ìsle wàs crèàtèd, sò Ì dòn't thìnk shè'd gìvè à dàmn ìf sòmèònè tòld hèr thàt hèr èx nàmèd hìs dèmìgòd kìd àftèr hèr Ròmàn pèrsònà. Àny wày, Mum dìed whèn Ì wàs twò. Ì'vè bèèn lìvìng wìth my gràndmòthèr èvèr sìncè."

"I'm sorry," Ruby said sincerely. She gave a comforting back rub to her friend. "So I'm guessing your mom's death is the reason you're afraid of dying despite the fact that your dad is Hades?"

Before Proserpine could say anything, the ground shook under their feet. Clawed hands dug their way out and gagged the girls, dragging them underground.

 _Minutes later_

"Where are Proserpine and Ruby?" Ingwer asked as she lifted her head from the soup pot she was busy cooking from. "Dinner's almost ready."

"I don't know about these two, but I know about _that_." Fork pointed at something that seemed to be flying towards them from the sky.

"INCOMING!" Sean grabbed Biggie and joined the others into getting out of the way while the thing crashed onto the soup pot and spilled all the soup onto the soil, much to Ingwer's dismay. The teenagers and dinosaur remained in their positions as they watched the creature get up and turned to face them. "Uh...hi?" It said meekly.

The remaining light of the remaining burning torches revealed the creature as a young girl, somewhere around fourteen, with olive brown skin. Her hazel hair (much lighter than Ruby's) had black streaks and was tied up in a ponytail. She wore normal clothing like a lime green-and-yellow plaid shirt, orange tights, colorful socks, and yellow running boots, but she also wore a brown frilly skirt and jacket that looked as if they were made out of a cockroach's exoskeleton. Not to mention that the girl had three unusual physical traits: red eyes about the shape of a moth's, brown antennas sprouting from her hair, and moth wings, colored in two types of pink and one dark brown, that hung from her back in an interestingly fashionable way. In other words, for a half-human, half-beast creature, this one was cute.

"Are you hurt?" Ingwer walked towards the creature and gave her a spare towel. The creature accepted the gesture and wiped off the soup she had on her clothes and arms.

"I'm OK. Sorry if I scared you, I didn't mean it." She grabbed Ingwer's hand and shook it, soft skin with somewhat scaly hints. "I'm Mack. Mack Exterminus, that is."

"Exterminus..." Sean tapped his fingers on his chin in thought. "Wait. I might have heard of you...Oh, yeah! You must be Max Exterminus' kid!"

"The kid of who?" Fork frowned. He gave another glance at Mack before taking a few more steps backward.

"He's one of those villains that those WHOOP spies dealt with. You know, villains like Professor Helga von Guggen, our Criminal Design teacher? Max Exterminus was an exterminator who turned evil by deciding he'd take over the world through bugs, kill humans with a large pesticide bomb, and fuse his human DNA with bug DNA. Like my mom and the other once-dead villains, he got resuscitated and shipped here."

"You can understand this stuff but you're not capable of passing Potion Chemistry class?" Ingwer frowned skeptically at her new lover. Sean shrugged.

"Who the heck would be _nuts_ to take over the world with vermins!" Fork exclaimed.

Mack frowned in an upset manner, which made Ingwer glare disapprovingly at Fork before going back to Mack. "Sorry about Forkjølelse," she said politely, "but he had a bad experience with bugs back in 8th grade..."

"Jessie Joker placed a hornet's nest in his locker and a rat in his backpack as an April Fool's Day prank, which gave him acarophobia," Mack said casually. Fork and Ingwer stared blankly at her.

"Acarophobia is another word for 'fear of bugs'." Sean explained to the others.

"Who are you and what have you done to Sean Abyss?" Fork pointed a paranoid finger at Sean.

"Ignore them, they've been paranoid since we've been here," Ingwer told Mack. "Aren't you supposed to be back in the city?"

"The city is not getting any safer ever since the attacks caused Dragon Hall to be closed." Mack shook her head. "Even as I'm talking, other descendants are getting attacked in their own homes when no adult is around to protect them." She turned her head to Sean. "Your cousin Mordred and all the sisters you have who are barely freshmen? They got attacked while your moms were shopping with your baby sisters..."

"My sisters..." Sean's knees hit the ground and the son of Ursula was now sobbing uncontrollably. Biggie moaned sadly as she tried to snuggle her head onto her owner's sleeves in a failed attempt for comfort.

"I think that he's going to regret complaining about having to do all the dishwashing for his sisters now." Fork patted Sean on the back.

"Mack, who else got attacked?" Ingwer asked.

"The Zeebub twins while they were having a catfight in an alley, Jackie and Jackson Hench in their dad's learning studio, Frank Lurman in the pet store area of Smarty Mart, Penny Cobblepot, Ben Tron, and Mystère Darkholme in the Cobblepot family pet day care..."

"Hold the phone!" Sean stopped crying and sprung on his feet. "Am I the only one seeing a pattern here?"

"What pattern?" Fork asked. "We're all doomed!"

"But don't you see? Ever since we left for the quest, some of our closest friends were attacked back home! There's Jane Hook and the rest of the pirate kids, then there's Noir, and now it's my cousins, my sisters, Ben, Penny, and Mystère. In order, it's the closest friends or family of Fork, Ruby, and me!"

"And if you count Izzy, who was one of the first victims, that makes me!" Ingwer realized. "This _cannot_ be a coincidence!"

"What about Proserpine, though?" Fork asked.

"Dia Nathos and Kaly Astéria were close friends with Proserpine and they were attacked before the quest began..."

"Uh, about your voodoo friend," Mack cut in. "Are you are that she and Ruby got kidnapped?"

"WHAT?" the trio said in confusion.

Mack hopped off the ground and flickered her wings in the air, literally flying like a moth, about five feet away from them until she remained still above the area. She pointed a finger under her feet and towards the ground.

"Wait...Last time I saw Ruby and Proserpine, they were sitting right there!" Fork rushed to the area that Mack was marking. Sean and Ingwer joined him and Mack landed gently (this time) to see Fork kneeling in front of what appeared to be a large mass of piled dirt...

"A molehill...Didn't Karlos Python said that we had to go through the Mole King's kingdom in order to reach Riddle's Graveyard Post?" Fork asked. His hand picked up some of the dirt and he watched as it slipped out of his hands.

"You're going there?" Mack choked out in a tone that suggested she was much scared now than Fork was about his fear of bugs. "That's suicide!"

"We _know_ that the area is dangerous because Penna De Mort lives there, but..." Fork rolled his eyes.

"Forget _her_!" Mack grabbed Fork's chin and made it tilt so that he could stare down at the molehill. "I mean _down_ there! The Mole King is a menace!"

"Well, judging by the fact that Proserpine's dad is an underground god and that Ruby is a cat burglar with wits and adamantium nails, they will be able to fend themselves until we rescue them." Sean said. "One mole isn't going to hurt them..."

" _Four moles_ , human sized, and the Mole King and his son keep seeking for brides everyday that the only thing remaining of those females who tried to escape them are their clothes." Mack's red eyes looked deadpan.

Silence was among them.

"Let's grab some shovels," Sean said urgently.

 _Meanwhile, in layers of underground tunnels and holes_

"Yòu knòw whàt's ònè òf thè wòrst pàrts òf màkìng à màìdènhòòd vòw?" Proserpine asked Ruby.

"Bad guys see you as the perfect person to sleep with?" Ruby guessed.

Proserpine groaned since Ruby was correct.

It had been completely unexpected: two moles, each of them much bigger than an average Hun and covered with sickly pale yellow fur and white claws, had dug out of the earth and grabbed the girls. None of them had enough time to shout for help before the moles gagged them with their large humanoid paws and dragged them into the hole while sealing the entrance behind them. The kidnappers had led them into a series of tunnels while still dragging them, which caused Proserpine and Ruby to be covered in dirt by the time the moles finally led them to a hole the size of the Dragon Hall girls' bathroom, only most of it had a large dent on the ground and it was filled with...

"Is that...urine?" Ruby sounded disgusted as she sniffed the air and knew what the pale straw colored liquid was.

"Mole urine, exactly," the tall lean mole that held her captive snorted. "We need to clean you in it before we present you to the king and prince."

"WÀÌT, WHÀT?" Proserpine screamed.

"Godfrey, help me get them out of their rags and throw them in the bath."

The girls tried in vain to protect themselves, but Proserpine's fire powers were weakened due to the minor supply of oxygen in the tunnels and Ruby's sharp nails were no match against the monstrous moles' claws, so even if they tried kicking and screaming, the moles resisted and were able to pull their clothes and underwear off them (the lean one, Arthur, was unable to remove the ring from Ruby's finger, thankfully) before throwing the girls into the disgusting urine bath.

"I've heard of worms being used to make bath powder, but this is ridiculous!" Ruby stuck out her tongue as she tried to get out of the bath.

"RUBY, FÒRGÈT THÈ BÀTH! WÈ'RE ÀBÒUT TÒ BÈ TURNÈD ÌNTÒ CÒNCUBÌNÈS!" Proserpine screamed even louder when Arthur grabbed her by the back of her neck and began to scrub her from head to toe with a sponge and some sort of white powder that none of the girls wanted to know what it was made off. Once he was done scrubbing the poor demigoddess, he dipped her back into the bath like chips in guacamole and tossed her out in the air until Godfrey caught her as if they were children playing with a human ragdoll.

"Ì thìnk Ì'm gònnà bè sìck..." she said dizzily while Ruby was suffering the same cleaning process.

"Don't worry, you'll be perfect in front of the Mole King and his son," Godfrey said while bringing some clothes. He then blinked at Proserpine's bare butt. "You know, from where I'm standing, it looks like you've got nice childbearing hips..."

"You moles are disgusting perverts!" Ruby snarled as she struggled to fight the grasp of Arthur while Godfrey dressed Proserpine up in an outfit that made the daughter of Hades nearly cause the ceiling to fall down with her screams when she saw that the mole had put her in a strapless, push up black corset bra that dangerously showed her midriff and cleavage, a black Brazilian bikini that showed no mercy to her bottom, and a short ponytail that nearly made the moles want to lick her.

Generally speaking, this would be a nightmare for any girl who swore to be single and virgin for the rest of their lives.

Ruby wasn't spared either. Her forced outfit was just a screaming purple string bikini that was even more revealing than the decent one she had worn while swimming with Martin on their first date.

"You know, Pro, I'm starting to wish that King Louie, Indimia Rex, or even the Scyphozoa had killed me when they had the chance," Ruby muttered as the moles led them by force out of the 'bath hole'.

 _Meanwhile_

"This is insane," Fork said after he, Ingwer, and Sean took several turns around the endless underground tunnels. He nearly yelped at the sight of a huge, half chewed fly. "We've been going around in circles for hours!"

"Ten minutes, actually," Sean said. "I thought we'd make it through these tunnels by making left turns..."  
"THOSE ARE LABYRINTHS, SEAN!" Fork raised his voice loud enough to make the ceiling shake a bit. Ingwer covered the mouth of the ice prince in order to make him shut up.

Something glittered on the floor. Sean was the first to notice it and reached down to pick it up.

"One of Proserpine's earrings!" He showed them the voodoo skull loop earring in his hand. "The girls were around here!"

"I think...they were dragged from here." A quivering Fork pointed at the tunnel ahead of them. Trails of dirt usually made by a dragged person were found on the earth. "We must be dealing with _very_ unfriendly moles."

Biggie growled at the trail.

"You're right, Biggie," Sean told the baby raptor. "We're going to show the Mole King that we _do not_ tolerate such indecent labor!"

"And this time, boys, we're using a bit of magic." Ingwer took out her magic spoon and waved it above the earring that Sean still held in his hand. " _One can't bake without eggs. Lead me to my friend to our help she begs!_ "

Pink light shined on the earring like an angel's aura and soon the jewelry was flying off Sean's hand and through a right tunnel, leaving a trail of pink sparkles worthy of Tinker Bell.

"Wow," Sean commented as the group ran after the flying earring. "Proserpine must be _really_ desperate!"

 _A few more tunnels down, the throneroom_

Arthur and Godfrey continued to lead Proserpine and Ruby down a few more tunnels, which got darker and larger in size. The air was surprisingly cold.

"Why is it so cold here?" Ruby asked Arthur as the captors and victims walked down a staircase made of solid earth. "I'd think that the deeper you go underground, the closer to the Earth's core you get."

"De Mort placed a fatally cold volcanic tunnel underneath the Mole King's kingdom in order to make sure that we were 'perimetered' enough to make sure the king got her message," he said.

"Lèt mè guèss," Proserpine muttered. "Ìt's ònè òf thòsè 'Ì'll frèèzè yòu tò dèàth ìf yòu dòn't kìll my ènèmìès' mèssàgès?"

"No, it's one of those 'I'll kill your son if you decide to bring your nosy holes into my territory'." The moles pushed a green door open and led the girls into a cathedral sized cavern with platforms of ground and pillars of rock that looked eerie with the bare amount of light in here. Just five feet away from them, something was standing on top of a high, cone shaped rock.

"Your Majesties!" Godfrey called to the rock while the girls were injected some sort of green liquid in their arms by Arthur, who whispered to them that it was a concoction that would tranquilize them if they dared to attack. "We brought girls!"

The rock and the walls shook as two figurines crawled down from the rock and landed roughly in front of them. Proserpine and Ruby nearly lost their eyeballs as Arthur and Godfrey let them go and pushed them so that they were kneeling in front of the Mole King and his son, Prince Tapidus Mole, the most horrifying pink-dressed, open-toed sandaled, wispy green haired, tacky jeweled, and blind moles in all the Isle.

"Welcome to our...palace," the Mole King said in an odd hissing tone. Arthur and Godfrey did their best to hide their trembling while their monarchs blinded walked towards the girls with their arms out, making them look like zombies. Ruby gulped as the Mole King went to her first and pinched her cheek. "So soft...skin," he moaned. His hands went down to her waist when he felt Ruby shaking. "Such shyness..."

"This one feels quite plump," Prince Tapidus said as he blindly let his hands feel, squeeze, and caress the chest and superior of Proserpine, which only made the demigoddess beg for the gods even more to spare her.

"Yes...a good quality you need in a woman, my son." The Mole King checked Ruby's and squeezed as if he were dealing with a cow rather than a lady. "Still young and full...And so..." He took a hold of Ruby's hair in his hands and went on to sniff it. "Fragrant!"

"Uh...thanks?" Ruby stammered.

"Sò much..." Proserpine whimpered.

The royal moles made them stand up while the Mole King ordered Arthur and Godfrey: "Send in the chamber maids on your way out. We need to prepare holes for our guests."

"Holes?" Ruby frowned.

"Why, to stay in of course!" The Mole King pulled her close to him, giving her no choice put to feel his unusually sweaty, furry skin.

"Thàt dèfìnètly wòn't bè nècèssàry!" Proserpine grabbed Ruby and pulled her out of the King's grasp. "Wè wòn't bè rèquìrìng àny hòlès!"

"Yeah, we can't stay!" Ruby nodded in nervous agreement. Unfortunately, the Mole King and Tapidus Mole laughed at their words.

"They're so witty, Father!" Tapidus laughed and clapped his hands together before he grabbed Proserpine and held her in a waltz pose. Ruby glanced back at the returning Arthur and Godfrey, the latter dressed in a French maid outfit, and said nothing when he made a silent gesture begging her to not say anything.

Then, the Mole King took her hand and waist in order to make her stare into his blind blue eyes. "We'll have a huge wedding, sparing no expense," he said. "All my subjects will be in attendance. We'll invite _everyone_ in the forest!"

"You mean everyone that you haven't terrorized, banished, or imprisoned, Father," Tapidus corrected while he was busy creepily stroking Proserpine's hair. "And for those you've eliminated..."

"THEY WON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE MISSING!" The evil underground rulers snickered. Proserpine and Ruby stared at one another before turning to his present servants and Ruby mouthing: "Are they always like this?"

"Yeah! And the Mole King forgot that we're his only servants left. Everyone ditched him!" Arthur mouthed.

"Yòu dòn't sày!" mouthed Proserpine sarcastically.

"Look, your Majesties..." Ruby spoke to the Mole King and Prince Tapidus without even bothering to bow to them since they were blind. "This is all very...flattering and all, but I'm afraid a wedding can't be done. My friend here has made a vow of maidenhood to the gods..."

"Whìch Ì ìntènd òn kèèpìng!" Proserpine added fiercely as she slapped Tapidus' hand away from her. The Mole Prince let out a small ouch and brushed his pained hand with the tip of his fingers.

"And as for me, there's someone else..." Ruby was cut off by the loud laughter of the Mole King. The ceiling was somewhat shaking as the King laughed like a lunatic in an asylum.

" **HA, HA!** Who ever it is cannot possibly compare with me! And what do the imprisoned god have to say in all of this from their chained bonds?"

"Uh, Father, maybe..." Tapidus lifted a finger to speak up, but the monarch was busy forcing Ruby into an involuntary tango pose. She squirmed as she tried to pull away from the Mole King, whose grip was getting tighter as it went lower from her waist.

"I shall woo you!" He insisted while holding her right arm and making her spin like a rag doll. The poor girl felt dizzy when he let her go. "You'll come to love me and be a wonderful queen for my perfect kingdom!"

 _Meanwhile_

Sean, Ingwer, and Fork had reached a hole and gasped when they saw a familiar bunch of clothes and two backpacks on the floor.

"Proserpine and Ruby's stuff!" Ingwer grabbed the abandoned stuff and took a sniff out of them. She snapped her fingers and Proserpine's earring fell to the ground. "I can use my scent tracking skills to locate them!"

"This hole looks like a cheap version of Yubaba's bathhouse," Sean picked up the earring and grabbed Biggie before the dinosaur could accidently fall into the bath water. He made a gagging face and covered Biggie's nostrils in order to spare her from smelling the ghastly urine scent. "Then again...Yubaba's had more fragrant waters than this!"

"Hey, guys?" Ingwer and Sean turned their heads to look at Fork, who was looking down at one of the tunnels that went deeper into the dark kingdom. "Either this place has a weird temperature that's messing with my brain or I'm hearing music?"

"No. I ...I can hear it too." Ingwer held out her nose at the tunnel and sniffed. "Guys, they're down there!"

 _Back in the throneroom_

Mole King: _Welcome to my hole._

 _Welcome to my kingdom here._

 _Though I'm just a mole_

 _I'm a whole lot tougher, it's clear!_

The Mole King hopped off the ground and onto the rock he came from. With the lights getting brighter in the hole, it was revealed he was sitting on a large stone throne and banging on his chest like a savage ape. Arthur and Godfrey shivered at the sight of the king while Proserpine and Ingwer looked stunned for the moment. The king then slid off his royal throne with his left claws slashing the rock.

 _Welcome to my throne._

 _Please try on my ermine!_

He tossed a white ermine fur coat at Ruby. Being against fur coats, Ruby threw the thing away from herself close enough for Tapidus Mole to pick it up with his blind hands and hand it to Proserpine. The demigoddess glared bitterly at the prince, but after a few seconds of seeing the blind blue eyes asking for forgiveness, she took the coat and put it on, feeling relieved that her body was getting properly covered.

 _Is it because I'm vermin,_

 _You recoil from my touch?_

 _Is it because I'm vermin,_

 _You don't smile very much?_

 _Is it because I'm vermin,_

 _You want to be alone?_

 _Welcome, welcome, welcome_

 _To my dolls, to my crown,_

 _To my ermine, to my town._

 _Welcome, welcome to my hole._

"Ìs yòur fàthèr àlwàys lìkè thìs?" Proserpine asked Tapidus while the Mole King continued to 'serenade' Ruby. The daughter of Hades had to admit that if the Mole King wasn't pinching the cheeks, caressing the waist, and tangoing an unavailable girl in a bikini, he would have been very good at theater.

"I'm afraid he's still upset that Thumbelina rejected him for Tom Thumb," Tapidus said. "I don't think that being revived and stuck with the same moles that stayed with him out of fear has taught him anything."

 _You and I,_

 _We make music._

 _I could cry,_

 _'Cause I'm so happy_

 _That you're just lovely_

 _And you're so little._

 _And you're so angelic._

 _And you have such little, little feet._

"PLEASE, STOP!" Ruby was screaming.

"Is he stroking her leg?" Tapidus asked Proserpine.

"Hòw còuld yòu tèll?"

Ruby was whimpering as the Mole King continued to molest her and force her to dance with him while he was 'wooing' her.

"Spend six years dealing with potential brides who run away screaming and you'll understand."

 _I repeat._

 _Welcome to my hole._

 _Welcome to this lovely place._

 _Do you like my face or my nose?_

 _I suppose they're disgusting, but they're me and that's no disgrace!_

 _How about my clothes?_

 _Please do not be catty!_

"By the way, I'm...sorry I was mistreating you a few minutes ago." Tapidus bent his head down in embarrassment. "I...didn't know you swore to be a maiden to the gods."

Ruby was holding her mouth in disgust in order to keep herself from vomiting as the Mole King appeared in front of her in the worst yellow Hawaiian shirt that ever existed.

"Ì fòrgìvè yà," Proserpine said quietly. "But tìp òf àdvìce: wòmèn prèfèr mèn whò rèspèct bòundàrìes. ÒK?" Tapidus smiled and nodded in understanding.

 _Is it because I'm ratty,_

 _You don't smile when I smile?_

 _Is it because I'm ratty_

 _You won't walk down the aisle?_

 _Is it because I'm ratty_

 _You treat me like a troll?_

 _Welcome, welcome to my dolls, to my crown._

 _Welcome, welcome to my own little town!_

 _Welcome, welcome to my books, to my rugs,_

 _To my kisses, to my hugs!_

 _Welcome, welcome to my diamonds, to my jewels,_

 _To my gowns, to my spring rolls!_

 _Welcome, welcome to my hole!_

"Sprìng ròlls?" Proserpine frowned as she watched Ruby get showered by all the trinkets that were being listed in the song and forced to wear a short white halter dress by Arthur.

"I can cook spring rolls." Out of nowhere, the prince pulled out a tray full of steaming cooked spring rolls in front of Proserpine. "Arthur and Godfrey think I cook terrible and Father says that a prince shouldn't be cooking."

"Thàt's rìdìculòus. Spècìòsus Nàrìssà ìs à prìncè ànd hè àlrèady knèw hòw tò còok pòìsòn àpplè turnòvèrs whèn hè wàs fìvè." Proserpine picked a spring roll. "Whàt àrè thèy màdè òf?"

Arthur and Godfrey: _AAAAAAAAAHHHH..._

Mole King: _You and I,_

 _We make music._

 _I could cry,_

 _'Cause I'm so happy (happy)_

 _That you're just lovely (lovely)_

 _And you're so angelic._

 _And you're so sweet. (sweeeeeeet...)_

 _And you have such little, little feet._

"Beetles and cinnamon." Tapidus watched as Proserpine took a bite from the spring roll and chewed it patiently.

"Hèy, thìs ìs actuàlly vèry gòòd!" She grinned and finished the roll.

Arthur and Godfrey: _He can tell a joke._

Mole King: _I can tell a joke. (Hey!)_

 _I can wow you with my wit._

 _Anything you sit,_

 _I will sit,_

 _And I'll charm you like a teenager in love._

 _We're a perfect fit. (We're a perfect fit.)_

 _I am not a nitwit!_

 _That's because I'm royal, and it's you I adore._

 _You're a lovely girl who's destined for more._

 _I won't let you spoil_

 _What you're meaning to spoil!_

 _I'm just a mole!_

 _But I'm a mole in love!_

 _Welcome to my hole! (Hole...)_

 _Welcome to my hole! (Hole...)_

 _Welcome to my hole! (Hole...)_

"Can you please let go of me?" Ruby said dizzily while the Mole King still held her by the arms.

"Arthur, get the priest in and tell everyone else in the kingdom that we're having a wedding!" The Mole King declared. "Now!"

" **WHAT?" R** uby screamed.

"Hold still!" Godfrey snapped as he placed a ragged veil and white crown on Ruby's head. "You'll make a lovely queen!"

" **Pro, help me!** " Ruby screamed.

"Silence!" The Mole King gagged Ruby with his hand. "The last time I was rejected at my own wedding, I fell into an abyss! This time, there will be no objections! By tomorrow morning, we'll have a new Mole Queen!"

"Yèàh, whàt hàppènèd tò thè làst ònè?" Proserpine asked Tapidus.

"Eloped with a mole rat. Don't ask further." Tapidus then walked blindly towards his father. "Father, this madness can't go on anymore! Can't you see that no maiden would ever want to marry us, vile and ugly creatures who live only in the dark! To think that you'd force a vowed maiden and one who loves another to be with us!"

"My own son...DEFYING ME?" The Mole King let Ruby go and marched towards his son, towering the latter in height and starring at him straight with his blind eyes. "A prince should be obeying his king the same way the subjects do to the king!"

"What subjects?"

Eyes (even the blind ones) looked up and saw Ingwer, Sean, Fork, and Biggie standing by the doorway. Realizing that they could blow out the truth, Arthur and Godfrey made gestures begging the newcomers to shut up.

"I'll agree that this place is big," Sean said. Ingwer rushed to hug Proserpine and Ruby and gave them back their stuff. "But I'm only seeing four moles total. It's not much of a kingdom here."

"Sean, it's not a kingdom, it's a LUNACY CLUB!" Ruby put on her original clothes on and turned to face the Mole King. "And as for you, you sick bastard, here's what I gave to the last guy who suggested exploited me on the same day!" Her hand slashed at the king's face, hitting him right on the nose and piercing the nostrils. The king screamed and roared so loud that _now_ the ceiling was starting to crumble.

"Now you've done it!" Arthur shouted at Ruby, who still looked startled by the wrath she didn't expect to create.

"We have to go!" Sean grabbed Biggie and the quintet, the pet, the two mole servants, and Tapidus Mole ran for the nearest tunnel, leaving behind the Mole King, who was too busy fighting the pain that his injured nose was giving him while rather than saving himself from the falling rocks that would crush him to death.

"Where do you need to go?" Tapidus asked as they all ran through the tunnels before their crumbling followed them from behind.

"The lake surrounding Fort Boyard!" Ruby said. "It's the last place before..."

"Questions later! We first need to get you out of here! Arthur, isn't the tunnel leading to the lake in this area?"

"Just ahead and it will be on the right after the tenth tunnel!" the servant answered. Without replying, the group followed the moles across the tunnels and made the fateful turned before the crumbling started blocking the tunnel.

"Start digging!" Tapidus ordered Arthur and Godfrey as the tunnel went higher and narrower. The moles dug as if their lives depended on it.

"I can see the sunlight!" Ingwer said when she saw the first sign of a sunray coming from the new hole. The moles took the sign and sped up the pace. Soon, the hole got straight through the surface and everyone got out of the hole...

To come face to face with a group of tigers.

"We're all going to die!" Arthur whimpered as he and Godfrey hugged one another. Everyone took cautious poses, except for Ruby, who walked towards the big cats and stroke them, making the tigers purr like kittens at her touch.

"I keep forgetting that cats are Ruby's thing," Fork chuckled. The sound of a gate opening was heard and a woman and a man came into what appeared to be a courtyard. The sound of seagulls and water could be heard from afar.

"Felindra, put the tigers away!" The man told the African woman in a red lion tiger outfit, who nodded and slapped her whip on the stone ground, signaling the tigers to leave the visitors alone and go back to their cages.

"I see you've arrived, as Father Fouras predicted," the man said. He looked like he was in his thirties and was dressed in a leather jacket, purple T-Shirt, black pants, and running shoes. He spoke with a noticeable French accent. "But only the teenagers are permitted here. The moles weren't invited."

Before the moles or the others could say anything, Proserpine walked towards the man. "Ìf thèy arèn't allòwèd, càn yòu àt lèàst grànt thèm trànspòrtàtìòn tò thè cìty?" she asked.

"That can be arranged," he said amiably. "We have a boat that we use to bring visitors to and out of this place. The moles will be transported to safety back in the city while you five proceed into your tasks and the boat will be the one taking you were you must go...if you can survive the tasks. I swear by the beard of Father Fouras and on the River Styx."

"Thànks." She turned to look at Tapidus. "Wè hàvè frìènds thàt càn hèlp yòu òut untìl wè còmè bàck."

"I'm grateful," Tapidus bowed. Then, he carefully put two fingers at the bottom of Proserpine's eyes and traced their form with his fingers. "Pro, what's the color of your eyes like?"

"Uh, fàllòw bròwn," Proserpine said confused.

"Fallow brown...Must be a nice color. I'll try imagining that color when I think about you my friend." He pulled his fingers away and stepped back. "Good luck, my friends." He started to follow Godfrey as he led him towards a door guarded by Felindra, who showed them the way in.

"For the record, you were his only friends outside the hole," Arthur told the quintet before catching up to the other two moles. Three minutes later, a motorboat was heard and the moles were gone.

"So now that the moles are gone," the man said. "Let's get started. Welcome to Fort Boyard! Let the games begin!"


	70. Gamed

Chapter 70: Gamed

The teenagers were led by the French-accented man into what appeared to be an ancient prison dressing room.

"You need to wear these uniforms while you deal with the fort's challenges," the man said s he opened a barrel and handed each of them a fitting purple T-shirt with a tiger head design, white shorts and socks, and black sneakers. "Once you've completed them, I promise that your old belongings will be returned and we will give you a one hour ride straight to Riddle's Graveyard Post.

"Uh, Mister..." Sean began to ask while the others began to suit up.

"Please, call me Olivier."

"Mister Olivier, just _what_ are the challenges?"

"I wish I could tell you, Sean, but I can't until the game starts."

"Are you kidding me?"

"I'm afraid he's not kidding, Sean," Ruby said once she was fully suited and put her old stuff in the barrel. "Fort Boyard was part of a French game show where a team of five contestants would have to face certain challenges selected by the ruler of the fort, Father Fouras, if they want to get the seven keys and five clues needed to open the gate to the treasure and get enough of it for the association they represented."

"You watched it too, huh?" Fork asked Ruby.

"Ì'm surprìsèd yòu ànd Ruby knòw àny òf thìs whìlè nònè òf us dò," Proserpine commented. She straightened her shirt to make sure that not even her navel was exposed after the problem she and Ruby had with the Mole King.

"When you're a VK who originally came out of the Isle, you're exposed to the fugitive criminal undergrounds throwing back old shows on bar TV screens." Ruby shrugged. Fork nodded in agreement.

"Hang on. This sounds like one of those raising money for charity shows." Ingwer stared at Olivier. "Isn't that, you know, a good guy thing?"

"It was until eventual contestants began to literally get heart attacks from challenges where they had to face their own fears," Oliver sighed. "Next thing you know, we were sued and Fort Boyard, along with everything in it, became stuck here forever and we have no other option but to make wanderers do these challenges, pass or fail, while the tapped videos entertain our neighbor, Penna De Mort."

This seemed like a cruel joke: just as they were getting closer to Penna's territory in order to get access to the one of Nightmare Moon, the team was forced to humiliate itself in front of the witch and possibly her goons. Some mental images were made at the possibility of Penna sitting on a snake couch and laughing her head off with Jessie Joker and Minuit Sparkle as the quintet tortured itself through booby traps, snake pits, and who knew what else was in the fort.

"So, who's ready to be a TV star?" Ruby said half-jokingly.

 _Minutes later_

' _Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to a brand new season of Fort Boyard! I'm Olivier, your usual host, and it seems like our dear old Father Fouras is not ready to let his challengers take away his treasure, which is why he'll have each of them face certain challenges in which they have to use their wits and strengths and face their worst fears in order to get the seven keys and five clues that will grant them access to the treasure room and a safe access out of here!_

 _'Here are our contestants! Proserpine Pitit Fi Anfèr, the daughter of Hades. She's one girl on fire who's not afraid of anything!_

 _'Forkjølelse Vinter, the son of Jadis the White Witch. An ice skater who will challenge the slippery slope._

 _'Ingwer Hexe, the daughter of the Candy Witch whose tasty treats are as good as her willpower._

 _'Sean Abyss, the son of Ursula the Sea Witch. With his tentacles and his pet raptor Biggie, he'll smack you down!_

 _'And last, but not least, Ruby Kyle, the daughter of Catwoman. This charming burglar is a girl who can do anything! People, let's get this ready! Toujours plus haut, toujours plus fort!'_

It was rather nice that Olivier had let the teenagers look at the TV intro of 'today's Fort Boyard episode' from his tablet since the last time they've been near media electronics felt like forever. The bad part?

"I feel like I'm going through the Hunger Games," Fork said. The wind was blowing in their ears and seagulls were flying above the crashing waves.

"Look on the bright side, at least you get out of here alive," Oliver said positively. "Ah, here's Passe-Muraille!"

A dwarf in a white and blue sailor's outfit came running on his small legs towards the group. He had a scroll in his hands.

"Hey, it's Passe-Muraille!" Fork smiled as he bent down to high-five the dwarf, who happily returned the gesture. "He's the one who delivers all the tasks from Father Fouras to Olivier. By the way, pal, I _loved_ watching you tease Olivier back in old episodes."

Passe-Muraille grinned while Olivier grimaced. Meanwhile, Felindra was at the courtyard just below them and hit the a tiger-designed gong with her whip.

"Alright, Team Five and A Dino, the gong has struck, the 60 minutes to search seven keys have begun, and the first task is the Spin Cycle! Passe-Muraille, lead the way!"

The dwarf nodded and he ran towards the West side of the fort, making the quintet and Olivier run after him. Sean carried Biggie (who had her own fitting T-shirt) in his arms while he jogged until they reached two blue door with two round tinted windows on each door and a yellow sign above them that said 'LAVERIE' in white letters.

"Oh no..." Sean gasped as he saw the door. "I'll never forget such doors. They look just like the doors of the public laundry wash and dry cleaners I have to go to everytime my sisters intentionally destroy the washing machine at home."

"Funny how you're right, Sean." Olivier pointed at the door with the scroll in his hand. "See, in the Spin Cycle, there are two things you have to deal with: a giant drum washing machine and a tube. Two of you will have to go in there and run in the drum as fast as possible until the tube is completely full of water and it makes the key rise high enough for you to collect it and come back here before time runs out."

"That's it?" Sean asked. Everyone stared at him, unable to believe that he just asked that.

"Funny again, Sean," Olivier smirked as he looked at the scroll and showed the fancy writing on it. "It looks like you've been chosen to go in there with Fork!"

The ice prince glared at Sean who chuckled nervously. "Here, I'll babysit Biggie for you," Ingwer said as she took the baby raptor in her arms. Biggie reached out her little arms, not wanting to be separated from her owner.

"Don't worry, Biggie, I'll come back with a key." Sean petted his pet's head and then stretched his knuckles as he joined Fork in front of the Spin Cycle's doors. "Alright! Let's do this!"

"Time starts now!" Olivier said as he flipped over a hourglass designed water clock hanging by the door and the boys stepped inside the room. The French host indicated a TV hanging from the ceiling to the girls. "We'll be able to see your teammates and they can hear us enough to give them advice."

' _They want us to run_ that _thing?'_ Sean snorted on the screen while he pointed at the large drum water machine that was big enough to fit two humans. ' _No big!_ '

' _Don't speak too soon_.' Fork warned as the boys stepped into the drum and started walking, making the drum spin like a hamster ball very slowly. As they did so, the level in the tube began to slowly rise.

"You're doing great, guys! Go a little bit faster!" Ingwer encouraged. Biggie chirped in a similar tone.

"Thìs càn't bè _thàt_ èàsy," Proserpine told Olivier skeptically.

"Wait for it..." Ruby lifted a finger. Just after she said that, they could see on the screen that water and foam began to come out of the drum once the boys started running. Sean slipped into the foam, making the drum stop spinning and the tube's water level to stop rising. "Yep, the faster you go, the more laundry-washed you'll get!" Ruby shouted at the screen.

' _COULDN'T YOU HAVE MENTIONED IT SOONER!'_ Sean shouted from the screen while Fork helped him get up. As the boys went back to running on the drum, the girls were laughing their heads off at the sight of the boys running with half the time left.

A ding was heard!

' _I got the key!_ ' Sean grabbed the risen key out of the tube. He and Fork rushed to the doors and opened them, causing a level of soap foam to flood out.

"Ì dìdn't thìnk Ì'd èvèr hàvè fun òn thìs quèst!" Proserpine laughed until she ran out of breath. "Ànd nòw Ì just dìd!" In response to her mocking him, Sean threw a foam ball at her with his tentacles. Meanwhile, Fork gave the key to Olivier.

"One key down, six more to go for you guys!" He said encouragingly. "You can do this."

"Sure, we made it on the first try," Ruby said skeptically while Ingwer was helping Sean get rid of the foam on him and prevent Biggie from eating it and Fork was sharing a high five with Proserpine. "But I don't think that getting the next keys will be that easy."

( **Note from the Author: to be quick, I won't describe how all the challenges in Fort Boyard work, so if you want to know more, look it up on Wikipedia or watch FORT BOYARD episodes** )

 _Next obstacle: the Cold Room. Contestant: Proserpine. Status: failed. 50 minutes left on the clock._

Sean was now the one laughing his head off when Proserpine came out of the Cold Room, shivering from all the cold water and ice she had gone through to get to the key...and fail. "And they say revenge is a dish best served _cold_ ," he snorted.

Being an ice prince, Forkjølelse found the joke funny. "Good one, bro." They fist bumped. Proserpine just glared at them with a murderous look, which meant that right now, she hoped that they would be spending the rest of their afterlives with her father Hades in an endless game of poker.

"So we failed an obstacle right after we made the first one," Ingwer told Ruby as they headed to the next obstacle. "What are the probabilities of winning all the seven keys?"

"Depends on the odds," Ruby said.

 _Next obstacle: Red Alert. Contestant: Ruby. Status: success. 48 minutes left on the clock._

"Aces, Ruby!" Olivier and the rest of the team congratulated her once she came out of the cell with the key. "You beat the Fort Boyard record! Nobody was able to go to and from the Red Alert in less than a minute and a half!"

A smug was on Ruby's face while Biggie gave her a congratulations cheek lick. Going through a corridor of red wires that were 'laser red security', fetch the key, and go back on your steps? That was way too easy for Ruby: robbing banks, ditching red laser beams with her cat stealth, and stealing stuff had been part of her life as a thief, mercenary, and Catwoman's daughter. Not to mention that she had learned a few stealth tricks back at the Fiskes...

"Two down, five to go!"

 _Next obstacle: Chez Willy Rovelli. Contestant: Ingwer and Sean. Status: success. 40 minutes left on the clock._

"This was disgusting beyond reason..." Sean said after throwing up for the tenth time in a bucket Passe-Muraille had brought to him. That annoying jerk of Rovelli had forced him and Ingwer to drink ostrich egg yolk and not spit at all unless they wanted to lose another key. If Ingwer hadn't put her hand on his mouth and forced him to swallow his last sip, that would have been the case.

"So far so good," Olivier said. "Three keys, four more to go." The others started to head off to the next challenge while Sean continued to throw up in the bucket.

"That's enough, Sean," Ingwer told him. She pulled the bucket out of his hands and gave it to Passe-Muraille to dispose of it. "C'mon, Sean. You did a great job in there. Let's catch up with the others."

"As long as I never have to go back to Willy's...mmh." He groaned those last words when Ingwer made him shut up with a kiss.

"Save the complaints to when we go back home, OK?" she said sweetly before pulling him by the arm towards the direction the others took.

"Did I ever tell you that you're my favorite chef?" Sean sighed.

 _Next obstacle: Pots of Fear. Contestant: Forkjølelse. Status: failed. 36 minutes left on the clock._

Fork was curled up in a ball, shivering and whimpering on the floor while his friends shushed him and rubbed his back in comfort. He didn't refuse to hug Biggie for comfort, but the latter then realized that she'd rather not be the teddy bear of someone with cold skin.

"No...no...more...bugs..." His dirty hands were still shaking from having put his hands in jars that held from icky and living stuff to the possible hiding place of the key. But barely a few minutes after he started the challenge and Fork had put his hand in a jar full of worms, he screamed and forfeited.

"You guys still have just three keys," Olivier reminded them once they left the Pot of Fears.

 _Next obstacle: Museum. Contestant: Ruby. Status: success. 33 minutes left on the clock._

Ruby had won them the fourth key by completing and beating another record. Honestly, after going through the 'Red Alarm' just to steal a key and come back without getting caught, the Museum challenge was easy peasy for her.

 _Many challenges later_

After facing the obstacles of the Cage, Basketball, Dizzy Dash, and Coffee Maker, the quintet won the seven keys, made it through the fear-challenging cells that gave them five clues, and now Olivier was giving them a motorboat ride away from the Fort and into the main land.

"Yòu knòw, thìs stòp wàs thè bèst ònè wè'vè èvèr hàd sò fàr òn thìs trìp," Proserpine sighed as she inhaled the salty water aroma that filled the air. The others were a mix of cheerful and anxious: cheerful because, for the first time since they left the city, they actually had fun during the perilous journey that nearly killed each of them, and anxious because now they just had to...go to Riddle's Graveyard Post...the entrance of the Devil's territory.

"So now we just have to go through the Graveyard Post and De Mort's territory in order to get to Nightmare Moon's," Ingwer said quietly. "This won't be any easier than the challenges at Fort Boyard."

"No, they won't" Olivier admitted as he continued to drive the boat. "Remember all those fear-challenges you had to face in Phase Two back at the Fort? What you'll find in Riddle's Graveyard Post is ten thousand times worse than back at the fort. It's full of magic that messes with your mind's deepest fears and makes you go through hallucinations until your willpower manages to make you snap out of it and bring you back to real life."

"What's the worst that could happen?" Sean asked. He tucked Biggie inside one of his backpack's safest inner pockets in order to ensure the safety of his pet. The raptor whimpered. "Biggie, it's for your own good. Stay." Biggie whimpered one more time before surrendering to lowering her body deep in the backpack. Sean zipped the backpack shut, but left one opening to give Biggie some oxygen.

"Speaking of worst..." Olivier's voice faltered in fear. "We're here."

The quintet looked at the direction the boat was heading to see a large mass of black fog floating above the waters and on an approaching mass of land. The closer they got to shore, the more they could have sworn that the fog was hissing at them like a nest of snakes.

A gothic temple, made of dark stone even darker than ash, came into view. Its church-like windows were glowing with a saturated teal light, a color nearly reminding the visitors of poison. On the top of the temple's dome roof, a large striking statue of the winged Angel of Death holding a raised scythe in its right hand was dominating the sky and temple. Distant rumbling and the sight of a mountain's peak could be seen a few miles behind the temple and hidden by the fog.

"Riddle's Graveyard Post." Olivier gulped as he stopped the boat by the shore made of black sand.

"P...P...Penna De Mort's home sweet home," Fork shivered as the quintet hopped off the boat one by one. His friends understood his reaction: after traveling for nearly more than half a month, they had reached the area in the Infinite Forest of Evil they needed to go through to reach Nightmare Moon's territory. The home of every villain's worst nightmare, the kingdom of the Princess of Evil herself...

The place in the Isle of the Lost where Voldemort's daughter actually resided for the last 20 years.

"So...all we have to do is go inside this temple," Ingwer said as she nervously pointed at Riddle's Graveyard Post while crows were flying around the dome, "get out from its back door, then go all the way through Pompeii, and...I'm sorry, but how are we supposed to get to the Everfree Sector again? It's not like Penna has a fence saying 'EVERFREE SECTOR RIGHT BEHIND THAT FENCE'!"

"Actually, she does." Olivier said as he began to start his boat again.

"Sèrìòusly?" Proserpine asked, deadpan.

"No, I think he's being serious," Ruby pondered. "About last month ago, Crystal told me that Penna and Artemis Nightmare were at each other's throats. Putting a fence between their homes would be a good reason to keep one another from trespassing."

"The fence was Penna's courtesy," Olivier cut in. "But when the Everfree Sector was put on the Isle of The Lost, Nightmare Moon placed a magical barrier around the sector to keep anyone in and out of it. No one leaves or goes in without the permission of the barrier's guardian, her son."

"A barrier within another barrier. Splendid," Sean muttered sarcastically.

"And what's the barrier supposed to look like?" Fork asked Olivier.

"When you look at it from here? Like an endless abyss. The barrier is invisible to the eye. But if you toss a moonstone into the abyss, it will go through the barrier and reach Artemis Nightmare. With some luck, he'll accept your offer and let you through the barrier."

"So we have to jump into certain death in order to go through the barrier?" Sean exclaimed. "What the Hell?"

"Hey, I'm not the one who came up with this stuff! All I know is that the last lunatic of your age to have gone to the Everfree Sector and come back alive said he jumped and went through the barrier. The only difference is that I ran into him while he was on his way back, and unlike you, he took the longer way out during his quest."

Without a doubt, the quintet knew that he was referring to Sirenius Dazzle, the only VK who ever went to the Everfree Sector and lived to tell the tale. "How did he do it?" Sean asked.

"Oh, he just traveled by the coastal shores until he reached the Everfree Sector and did the similar thing to get back home...all in six months." The distant volcanic rumbling was increasing. "I'd better get back to the Fort. I'd wish you luck, but there isn't a lot here."

They bid him farewell and watched as he and his boat left into the distant waters, leaving them in this dark landscape.

"Wèll, wè'rè nòt gèttìng àny yòungèr fròm hèrè," Proserpine said. "Lèt's gò."

The others agreed with her and made their way towards the temple. Their eyes were widening when they saw how darker and austere the environment was becoming as they reached Riddle's Graveyard Post: dusty white temple rumble was spread everywhere, a few crows were seen pecking on a bunch of rotting bones, making the quintet shiver, and withering flowers.

"Good thing Florence wasn't chosen for this," Ruby said quietly. "This place would have made her miserable."

Sean looked under his foot and nearly threw up when he saw that he was stepping on numerous fish bones. "I know _I'm_ miserable."

"Guys, look!" Ingwer pointed at the black set of ancient stairs that led to the pointed. Right at the middle of it was a sculpture of an elderly man's head with blind blank eyes, silky hair that flowed and extended like the cartoony depictions of the sun, and an open mouth from which black tar flowed out of it and slithered into small proportions until it reached a nearby mass of black water that was very familiar.

"The Tarrian River," Sean realized out loud for the group as they walked up the steps. "This is the very source of it. I never thought I'd say this, but even here it's pitiful."

They silently agreed. Back in the city and the other areas of the Infinite Forest of Evil, they had seen the river as a grand body of evil liquid that could have defied a river like the Seine or Mississippi River themselves. Now? It was reduced to a miniature creek spitting out of an old stone guy's head like water from a sewer pipe.

They reached the top of the stairs and found an average sized arched door made of black metal. The only light thing about it was a set of Latin words made of platinum nailed to the door's metal. The words were rather disturbing.

" _Memento Mori_. Remember you will die," Ruby read. "Very fitting." An odd shivery feeling went down her spine as if eyes were staring at her from behind, which as surprisingly accurate, since all her friends were staring at her. "What?"

"You're the chief," Ingwer said. "What do we do now?"

"Excuse me?" Ruby flipped around to make sure that she was facing and hearing the daughter of the Candy Witch correctly. "Who decided that _I_ was the one in charge?"

"The events we've been through?" Fork suggested.

"Fàcè ìt, Ruby." Proserpine put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Òut òf thè fìvè òf us, yòu'rè thè ònè whò stèppèd up ànd àctèd lìkè à lèàdèr."

Ruby grimaced and slapped Proserpine's hand away. The demigoddess yelped from the scratches that she got from the brunette's adamantium claws. "Ruby, what the Hell?" Sean exclaimed while Ingwer tended to the daughter of Hades' injuries.

"How can you guys possibly see me as a leader?" Ruby yelled. "LOOK AT ME! Why does everybody believe in me so much? The Council claim they have faith in me, Shenzi and her tribe think that I'm Moses delivering their pups from the hands of Penna De Mort, every living monster in this forest wants to kill me, eat me, or marry me because there's something 'special' about me...I mean, get real!" She waved her clawed, bruised hands at her four friends. 'I mean, look at you guys! Fork shoots ice out of his hands, Sean can turn his legs into wrestling tentacles, Ingwer could bring to life an army made out of gingerbread cookies if she wanted to, and Proserpine is the daughter of a death god for crying out loud. And what am I? A street rat born from a cat burglar in the streets of a crappy city! I don't have a mark of villainy or powers or anything! I can't even rob a bank without accidently triggering the alarm! My mom could be dying from drugs at Arkham for all I know, I never knew my dad, and this quest is giving me illusions! **I DON'T WANT TO BE SOME SORT OF HERO OR VILLAIN IN A STORY! I JUST WANT TO HAVE MY OWN LIFE AND BE MYSELF, THAT'S THE ONLY THING I EVER ASKED IN MY LIFE! WHY IS EVERY EXISTING THING TRYING TO DESTROY ALL THE CHANCES I TRY TO USE TO GET ALL I EVER WANTED? A LIFE!** "

Ruby bursted into tears as she said this. Her knees weakened and she knelt down on the ground, facing the temple's door as she cried. For some reason, there was a small vibration and glowing coming from Riddle's Graveyard Post, as if Ruby's emotions were a feast to it.

Meanwhile, her friends stared at her, baffled from what she had just said.

Sean: _I might be the son of the Sea Witch_

 _Who tried to turn King Triton into a polyp sandwich._

 _Since I'm the oldest,_

 _I'm expected to be the grandest._

 _But how did I get my mark?_

 _Well, for one, it wasn't a big spark._

 _I got electrocuted while cleaning Mom's eel tank._

 _My mark came on my flank, I must be frank._

Ruby looked up and grinned a bit while Sean was singing. Ingwer then joined in and showed Ruby her bare left palm, which had the mark of a whisk and pan crossed with one another like an X.

Ingwer: _Mine came when I had to cook_

 _A thousand and one gingerbread men out of my mom's book._

 _In less than twelve hours, without eating, drinking, or peeing._

 _And although I ended up succeeding,_

 _I had to eat a whole bear and go to the bathroom_

 _Much longer than one could assume._

Ruby couldn't hold back the smile that was growing on her. Fork and Proserpine clapped their hands in rhythm to the song.

Sean and Ingwer: _But what can I say?_

 _I'm born from the greatest, but I'm not perfect._

 _That's just how I am and how I want to stay._

 _Destiny may not be something that you select,_

 _But you are who you are the same way night turns to day._

 _That's just how you are and how you want to stay._

As he joined in, Fork summoned a bunch of frost army figurines ice-skating, with the leading one looking like him and leading the figurines to slip and slide on their stomachs like dominoes.

Fork: _Back in seventh grade,_

 _I had this assignment to lead an army on ice._

 _I didn't think it was hard, but I'm afraid_

 _That caused me and my grade to fall like dominoes and dice._

 _My mother blew off with anger and vice._

 _A glorious mark of villainy I had to sacrifice._

Proserpine joined in, and surprisingly, when she sang, she no longer had her Creole accent and sounded more like an African American.

Proserpine: _I ain't proud of how I got mine._

 _I accidently put my house on fire._

 _You'd think that a mark of burning bones' a sign._

 _But sis, I didn't get any higher._

Fork and Proserpine: _But what can I say?_

 _I'm born from the greatest, but I'm not perfect._

 _That's just how I am and how I want to stay._

(The four together): _Destiny may not be something that you select,_

 _But you are who you are the same way night turns to day._

 _That's just how you are and how you want to stay._

Ingwer grabbed Ruby's hands and pulled her upward.

Ingwer: _So it doesn't matter if you're magic or not._

 _You were brave, you were strong, and that matters a lot._

Fork: _Without you we'd be lost in the night,_

 _But your wits led us back to the light._

Sean: _We never gave up on you and you did the same._

 _You shouldn't have to put on you the blame._

Proserpine: _We don't need any Northern star to guide us._

 _You were a sky gem in our quest, and that's a plus._

The sun shone through the fog as hope began to refill Ruby.

Ruby: _Destiny may not be something that I selected,_

 _But I'm who I am the same way night turns to day._

 _That's just how I am and how I want to stay._

 _My heart will no longer be disconnected_

 _From my friends, my love, and those I'm connected._

 _For I have something worth fighting for_

 _In this upcoming internal war._

 _That's just how I'll be and stay._

 _(OOOOOOH)_

Quintet: _That's just how we'll be and stay._

Ruby sighed with more confidence, inhaling the surrounding air, and asked her friends: "So who's ready to go with Shadow Seeker and jump into the jaws of death."

"Mè!" Proserpine raised her hand.

"Same!" Sean replied.

"Hear, hear!" Fork shouted.

"Alright!" Ingwer said.

Ruby's eyes sparkled at her friends before she turned towards the door and pushed it open, leading her friends into darkness.


	71. Crazed

Chapter 71: Crazed

"Uh, guys?"

Sean tried to squint in the endless darkness he was walking in. Nothing was in sight. He couldn't even hear his friends breathing. All he could feel was the cold marble pavement he was walking on.

Distant screaming echoed in the...What the heck was he in? A room, because it had a flat pavement? Or, because of that weird blue light that just appeared out of nowhere and was reflected upon a bunch of stalactites, a cavern?

" **Abyss...** " A familiar strict voice said. " **Sit!** "

"Oh no," Sean gasped. The light brightened, clearing his sight and showing him a place he didn't miss back in Dragon Hall. A miniature replica of an underground lair with water leaking from some unknown source on the ceiling and a chalkboard chained to a wall. A subject he was failing at school constantly despite being Ursula's son. The class taught by a sorceress queen whose son bullied Sean since childhood because of the latter's inferiority in class and magic.

The Villainous Witchcraft classroom, the class taught by Queen Narissa, mother of Speciosus Narissa. And if it wasn't enough, Queen Narissa was standing by the chalkboard with only one desk and chair facing her and some sort of abyss surrounding the 'classroom'.

" **I said SIT!** " she bellowed. Sean jumped, nearly falling into the abyss (how ironic) until he changed into cecaelia form and swung his way up with his tentacles. He sighed in relief until something grabbed one tentacle and spun him until he landed butt first on the chair.

"What the?" He dropped his jaw when he saw who spun him standing by the teacher. "Speciosus?"

" **Oh look, Abyss nearly fell into the abyss!** " The evil prince mocked him with his mother laughing in suit. " **What a perfect match it must be, a failure falling to his own death.** "

"I'm not a failure!" Sean jumped off the chair and threw it into the abyss. "Let me go!"

" **Discipline, Abyss, is key to magic!** " Queen Narissa said.

" **But then again, you never had discipline or evil in you, so you suck at magic!** " Speciosus checked his long, brown nails while proceeding in the mock. Sean, in the meantime, was clenching his fists and sweating.

"I _am_ evil and I _am_ not bad in magic!" he said strongly. "I went through this quest, I made it alive, so I'll make it through whatever you throw at me!"

" **Have it your way,"** Speciosus shrugged. Judging by the sneers on his face, Sean could tell that they were up to something. The Queen put one of her hands on the chalkboard and scratched it with her claws. The screeching sound forced Sean to cover his ears from the ghastly sound until it was done. When he looked back, his body was paralyzed when he saw what was between the frames of the chalkboard.

The bars of a cage, and in them, a feverish Ingwer.

" **So you claim you're disciplined enough to have magic and be evil** ," Queen Narissa said. Her feet tapped against the cold floor before she and Speciosus turned into blue dragons and began flying around Sean, making him dizzy.

" **If you are what you claim, then you'll kill her of course** ," a series of voice said.

" **No, Sean! Don't!** " The caged Ingwer begged.

" **Look at her! She's better at magic than you and she rubs about it on your nose everyday!** " Dragon Speciosus said charismatically.

" **Are you powerful? Are you a witch? Then shoot her with a fireball!** " Dragon Queen Narissa hissed.

" **Sean, please! I love you! You can't do this to me!** "

" **Love is weakness! Magic is power! Either you're a failure to power or a traitor to the girl who constantly makes you feel like you don't deserve her? Finish her!** "

The voices were surrounding him like a tornado in his skull. Sean broke down to the ground, clutching his hair with his hands and screaming for the hammering voices to get lost. The more he screamed, the more he could feel his oxygen escaping his lungs...

"AAAAAAAAAHHH... OOOOOOUUUCCCCHH!"

Right when he exclaimed 'Ouch', he jolted up and clenched his nose. He blinked and noticed that he wasn't in Villainous Witchcraft but in an empty temple room.

"What happened to me?" His pained nose caught his attention. He removed his hands and noticed blood on them. Then, he saw Biggie hopping on his lap and the red liquid that was staining and dripping from her teeth.

"Biggie?" He saw that his backpack was laying on the ground (he must have removed it at one point) and that the opening he left for Biggie to breathe from looked like it had been forcefully pushed open by something of the raptor's size. Biggie must have sensed he was in trouble, so she got out and bit his nose to wake him up.

"Biggie, I love you!" Sean opened his arms to embrace the baby raptor and hug her while she used her tongue to lick his bleeding nose, making Sean giggle.

"The others!" He gasped and got up when he saw his friends lying on the ground too, fidgeting, whimpering, and looking feverishly pale. He then rushed to the one closest to him and tried to make her wake up. "INGWER!"

 _Ingwer's hallucination_

"NO!" Ingwer screamed. "STAY AWAY!"

But what could she do? She was trapped in a circle of fire that was decreasing in size and threatening to roast her while she as surrounded by a mass of bald, naked children with chewed heads, missing limbs, bleeding cuts, and dissected guts marching towards her like mindless zombies.

" **Remember me?** " A toddler with half a leg chewed crawled towards her. " **I was the first fleshy bite you've had in your life!** "

"I'm sorry!" The flames and the crowd got closer. "I didn't know I'd be causing pain back then!"

" **Hey, sugar!** " Ingwer stiffened when she recognized the voice of one of the gang members that assaulted her back in the Malina alleys. She couldn't see their faces or clothes, but she identified the silhouettes, especially when one of them grabbed her jacket and shirt from the bottom front and lifter them up, along with their owner suspended at least six feet above ground and feeling the heat hitting her exposed torso.

" **You know, angel cake, you never gave me and my gang our night**." A series of manly snorts and zombie snickers were heard and Ingwer screamed as she felt more hands circling her, ripping her clothes off, and digging through her skin while the flames got closer.

" **Ingwer, c'mon! Wake up!** "

Something pressed her lips, giving her enough air to extinguish the fire and blow away the enemies. Soon enough, Ingwer was waking up and found herself sitting in the empty temple room with Sean knelt besides her and Biggie jumping at her revival.

"Thank goodness you're alive!" Sean sighed in relief. "I feared that...mmph!" For about the third time during the quest, Ingwer kissing him on the lips interrupted him.

"Oh Sean...mmph...For a...mmph...moment, I...mmph...thought I...lost...mmph...you...for...good...mmph!" The sentence would have been clearer if Ingwer didn't keep pulling the son of Ursula deeper into their kiss and interrupting her own words with moans. But being reunited with him right after she got out of her nightmare...

"Hang on." She officially pulled away from their romantic embrace. "What happened? How did I get away from the zombies and the fire? And why is your nose bleeding, Sean?"

"Uh, about that..." Sean blushed while Ingwer used her first aid kit to treat his nose. "I kind of used CPR on you to make you wake up."

"Oh..." The pressed lips, the air that rescued her...Sean's attempt to give her a kiss of life had saved her from the nightmare. "Sean, you saved me!" She hugged him, making the two of them fall on the ground with Ingwer lying on top of Sean.

"Well, it's kind of the least I can do...after what happened to me."

Ingwer looked at his silvery eyes. "You had an awful vision too?"

"Yeah, I...was forced to pick between being a failure or losing you. My...my worst fears in life." He stroke her cheek. "If Biggie hadn't bit me back to life, I could have died in that nightmare."

"Bless that dinosaur. I lived in my own fears too."

"You're afraid of fire and rape, aren't you?" Sean looked at Ingwer as he said this. "You always act nervously when you have to light a match and when you woke up, you had the same look you had in your eyes when you came to Legume Tavern after a gang assaulted you."

"And I'm also afraid of the children I ate coming back to get me," Ingwer admitted. "My fear of fire was caused from Hansel and Gretel pushing my mom in the oven and the first time she told me the story, I was afraid of going even one inch near a birthday cake. And rape...Don't tell anyone this, but way before she met my dad, my mom was assaulted by some jerk at her witchcraft school. That's why she didn't marry until she met my dad, an ogre: at least he'd be more occupied with feeding his stomach than sexually harassing his wife."

"Bummer." A voice startled them, but they sighed in relief when they saw it was none other than Forkjølelse sitting upright and staring at them like he caught them in the middle of intimacy.

"Yikes!" Sean yanked his hand away after he tried helping Fork get up. "Fork, you're cold!"

"Uh, Sean, I'm an ice prince," Fork said deadpan. "I do cold."

"No, you're like _ice_ cold. It's like I was touching an ice statue rather than the cold skin you usually have. You know, the same way a normal person's bare skin feels like once he steps out into a cold winter day."

"Fork, did you have some sort of vision about your worst fears?" Ingwer asked while Sean picked up Biggie. "Sean had one about...failing, and I had one about fire and all the babies I ate trying to avenge their lost limbs." She didn't dare to mention her fear of rape.

"I did." Fork trembled. "I was in a room, with no door and no window, and somehow a bunch of bugs came in and began flooding the room. I was screaming, trying to kick the bugs away from me, and begging for help. I heard Jane's voice and called out to her, but all I heard was her coldly telling me to get over it and just freeze the bugs with my powers. I almost tried to until I realized that Jane would never talk to me that way or to anyone..."

"The getting over it?" Sean frowned.

"No, the cold tone. The one that a person has when that person knows nothing about warmth, emotion, or sympathy. The...cold I can't handle."

"You're afraid of being a cold person...emotionally?" Ingwer realized. The White Witch's son trembled, even after Sean gave him a buddy's comfort hug.

"GÀH!" They heard and saw Proserpine bursting from the ground as if she woke up from being poked by numerous needles.

"What did you see?" they asked instantly and in unison.

"À bunch òf còrpsès lyìng òn thìs vèry flòòr." Proserpine waved at the room's floor. "Ònè òf thèm, à dròwnèd wòmàn, sàìd shè dìèd ìn thìs vèry ròòm."

"Oh, please don't tell me there's a booby trap I don't know off!" Fork dropped on his knees and begged.

Biggie growled something as she perched herself on Sean's left shoulder like a parrot. "Biggie, you might be up to something," he said.

"What did she say?" Ingwer asked. "And please translate in English."

"Raptors have this instinct of observing and tracking preys based on their fears," Sean said. "When Biggie felt me squirming while she was still in my backpack and I was being...possessed by an illusion, she could tell by my unusual movements that I was in trouble. And when she forced herself out and got a sense of my rising body heat, lack of breathing, rigid limbs, and whatnot, she understood immediately that I was being tortured internally by my fears."

"Ìs thàt why yòu hàvè hèr àutògràph òn yòur nòsè?" Proserpine pointed at his new scar. He nodded.

"The point is that this is what Riddle's Graveyard Post, the temple itself, is the guardian keeping us from going through the door that will lead us to Penna's turf. It's keeping us out by killing us with the worst fears our minds could imagine. Plus, I remember the Big One telling each of us stuff about facing fears, not being afraid of death, beware a frozen heart, and you see what I mean."

"But still, I nearly burned in that vision!" Ingwer exclaimed.

"Burnèd? Ìngwèr, yòu...yòu'rè àfràìd òf fìre?" Proserpine looked rather hurt when she saw the Candy Witch's daughter nodding her head nervously. Sensing that this was rather awkward, Sean decided to ask Proserpine how on Earth she woke up from her nightmare. "My fàthèr sènt mè à vìsìon."

"Of his poker games?" Sean got glares from Fork and Ingwer.

"Ì wìsh hè dìd, Pòlyps Bràìns," she said tearfully, "but hè shòwèd mè à flàshbàck òf my mòthèr's dèàth ànd rèmìndèd mè òf why Ì chòsè tò bè à prìèstèss fòrèvèr. Thàt snàppèd mè tò lifè." She rubbed off her tears after revealing her fear of death came from her mortal mother dying from hysteria in Arkham because being the lover of an evil (and married) god and giving birth to one of his demigod spawn overwhelmed her, leaving her little girl Proserpine as an orphan living with her grandmother, her sole relative, in the Isle of the Lost.

"Shit! Ruby!" Fork rushed to their friend who, unlike the rest of them, still hadn't woken up. He put an ear on her chest and widened his eyes. "Guys, I think Ruby's in trouble!"

"Either De Mort really doesn't want her around or she has the worst luck out of us!" Sean muttered while the quartet and dinosaur joined in to try reviving her.

 _Ruby's hallucination_

"Wow."

Ruby didn't know it yet, but her vision was not as dark as her friends'. She didn't know that, while they were suffering with their worst fears, she was walking on a glass surface reflecting a purple ethereal sky full of stars. A shooting star passed for a few seconds.

"This has got to be a dream," Ruby said in a mix of disbelief and admiration.

Distant crying was heard. Ruby looked at her right, squinted, and saw what looked like a Caucasian girl with black hair and teal strikes dressed in plain, black working robes and a silver-and-green tie. She saw that the girl was running away towards the glowing horizon, crying so badly.

"Hey, wait!" Ruby called out. She began running after her, hoping to reach the girl before the horizon's glow engulfed her. But it was too late. The girl screamed as her body was disintegrated into the stars and Ruby stared in horror as the only thing coming out of the tragic death was some sort of cackling, demonic silhouette shaping itself from the light and flying away into the distance space.

" **It's horrible, I know."**

Ruby yelped when she heard a voice behind her back and nearly got a heart attack when she saw the same girl she had seen getting disintegrated a few seconds ago sitting on a glass circular staircase that wasn't there before.

"You just died a few seconds ago," Ruby said bluntly.

" **Yeah. I died and she was born** ," the girl said.

Confused, Ruby took a few steps closer to the girl and examined her. Something was oddly familiar about the girl despite how much younger her eyes made her appear. Wait. Her eyes...Their bluish color looked familiar.

"It can't be..." Ruby told the girl. "You can't be Penna De Mort."

The girl looked up, revealing how she looked like a reflection of Voldemort's daughter without the lavender skin, demon wings, elfish ears, and the impossible seductive beauty and malevolence emitted from her cold stare and ambitious soul. This reflection looked a lot more like the kind of girl you'd be expecting to see bullied by a bunch of big kids in a schoolyard.

"Or..." Ruby snapped her fingers. "Is this one of those moments where you tell me that you're Penna's good side...if she has any..."

" **I am** ," the girl said. " **I am the half that her evil self fears to bond with. I am the undesired child that Voldemort tried to dispose of. I am the one that existed before Penna De Mort. I'm...Penelope.** " She covered her face in embarrassment.

"Seriously?" Ruby frowned incredulously. "The witch who tried to get me killed ever since this whole mess started, the lady chickens people more than Maleficent, Voldemort's slave child, the so-called Princess of Evil...Her real name is Penelope like my friend Penny Cobblepot?"

" **Actually, it's Penelope Svjetla Marvolo Riddle** ," Penelope said meekly. " **Voldemort just loved to ridicule me. Believe me, it was his idea to give my evil self a name that not only sounded like him but also sounded like a death penalty**."

"Bummer," Ruby said, feeling a bit pitiful of the presumed 'good-self' of Penna De Mort. "I've heard that your dad beat you badly, but now you look like you went to Arkham like my mom." Sorrow was filling Ruby at the memory of Catwoman being held back in the asylum right now.

" **She's dead, you know**."

"Uh?"

" **Your mother, Selina Kyle? Catwoman? After you and your nocturnal friends killed King Louie, she sent Jessie Joker and Minuit Sparkle to infiltrate Arkham and inject your mom with Naga's venom on her neck. I thought you might want to know before you ended up finding out**."

The sky seemed to shatter as the words hit Ruby. "No..." She whimpered as her shaking hands grabbed Penelope and barely shook her. "No, please tell me you're lying! Please tell me that this is a nightmare created by this temple because Penna hates me! I'm begging you! Tell me it's an illusion!"

" **I wish I could, I swear on the River Styx, but Penna and I are the worst liars in existence. I can't tell you that this temple doesn't feast on a trespasser's worst fear, I can't tell you that anybody facing their fears here have survived in the past twenty years, and I can't lie about the rest. Penna may have locked me away in dimensions where I can't access our body anymore, but I can still see her dreams, her ambitions, her surroundings, and the only things other than power ad revenge that she actually cares for. The evil within her is afraid of reforming, so the good within me is trapped here. You are by the first the only one whose seen me and not your fears when stepping in this room. So no, I'm not lying when telling you that Catwoman is dead.** "

Ruby wanted to cry, fall into the ground, and just drown in her tears, but Penelope got up and grabbed her before she could fall. " **Don't do this, Rebecca. Crying, falling, and dying are the worst things I've experienced in my life under Voldemort's dominance and that I must reface daily in this temple. Don't do what Penna wants you to do: suffering what she suffered.** "

"But why is she doing this to _me_?" Ruby exclaimed. "What have I done to her that makes her loathe me that much to the point where she made me an orphan?"

" **Unfortunately, that's stuff from her brain that she's capable of blocking. Even Artemis Nightmare can't crack the spell that she put on herself** ," Penelope sighed. She led Ruby up the glass stairs. The girls walked for what seemed like a millennium on a see-through stairwell that circulated towards the sky fading in color. " **Maybe she just hates you for the same reason that she hates villains, heroes, and reformees altogether. Because she and I never got what they have, had, or could have.** "

"What...villains, heroes, and reformees have, had, and could have? What do you mean?"

Penelope said nothing at first and just let her tears roll off her cheeks and crystallize into the infinite sky of stars.

Penelope: _**People make it seem so simple,**_

 _ **A world with unchanging ripples.**_

 _ **I've seen it all just from my window,**_

 _ **Thieves stealing under the stars,**_

 _ **Crowds cheering for their heroes,**_

 _ **And grey clouds passing over the years.**_

 _ **Good, evil, and neutral.**_

 _ **They sound so different.**_

 _ **Their feuding is so futile.**_

 _ **If they only knew how much I'm suffering**_

 _ **To have what they always had.**_

 _ **Why is it, they can all find happiness**_

 _ **But I must only have a heart so cold and sad?**_

 _ **Why must I only be full off sappiness**_

 _ **While they get a chance for anything?**_

 _ **Why must evil be my everything**_

 _ **And why can they have happily ever afters?**_

 _ **Why can't I ever have a true love's kiss?**_

 _ **Why do they see me full of disasters?**_

 _ **My life is full of solely curses,**_

 _ **And yet other villains can get life cures.**_

 _ **Oh, if only for I could get this life chance**_

 _ **To find my own happily ever after.**_

 _ **Oh, if only I finally found romance**_

 _ **And my heart was warmed forever after.**_

 _ **Oh, if others could see past the demon in me,**_

 _ **Then maybe I could find a way to who I'm meant to be.**_

 _ **A chance in happiness, like everyone else.**_

 _ **A chance in happiness, that's all I ever want.**_

 _ **A chance in happiness, nothing else.**_

 _ **A chance in life, and I'll feel less distant.**_

"Happiness and love?" Ruby brushed away the tears that Penelope's song gave to her. "That's why Penna hates almost everyone, including me? Because despite how bad our lives may be, despite how some stories end for both heroes, villains, and antiheroes..."

" **You all get chances of living happily,** " Penelope finished for her. " **Heroes at Auradon live happily. The villains on the Isle of The Lost, despite being imprisoned by their arch-foes, still find happiness with their evil friends, families, and loved ones. And all the antiheroes out there in the world, whether they were reformed villains, not so heroic heroes, or villains and heroes who fell in love with one another, have found happiness. Only Penna and I never got happy or loved in our entire lives because of Voldemort. And to make matters worse, thanks to his spells and curses that twisted us when he forced us to kill people on our birthdays in order to preserve our souls into Horcruxes and live forever, Penna believes that she can only be satisfied with anything evil that occupies her life. And for me, I can't pass any second without reliving my worst experiences.** "

"Isn't there a solution to your problem?" Ruby asked. By now, they were close to reaching the stairs' peak. "Usually there is one to every problem."

" **There is just on, but it's impossible. First, Penna and I should be bonded back together as one in the same body. Secondly, to ensure the stable bond of the physical and emotional permanently, we'd have to get true love's kiss from a person who could love us for what's within us.** "

"Ugh, you mean the classic Beauty and the Beast curse? That sounds déjà vu."

" **Hardly! Even if Penna and I managed to reunite and end up in the same body, we'd be endlessly fighting for dominance, Penna with the dark magic she uses on a daily basis and me with the overwhelming guilt of past crimes that could drive us as hysterical as your mother was before she dies. And let's be honest: who could possibly fall in love with Voldemort's daughter**?"

"The same way nobody would believe that the son of Auradon's monarchs would fall in love with Maleficent's daughter?" Ruby recalled the numerous rumors she heard back in Dragon Hall of Mal and her gang choosing good over evil and Mal defeating her mother herself.

They said nothing until they reached the top, where they found an opening shaped like a glowing bat floating just a few inches from the stairs. "I really hate seeing bats all the time," Ruby said. "I hate that my chances at life are being ruined. And, for the first time in my life, I actually hate not knowing why I never knew my dad."

" **I feel you. My biological mother died when I was born and seeing Voldemort for the first minutes of my life were enough to convince me to never call him 'Papa'** ," Penelope sighed. " **But you know, if you really want to know about your father, Penelope, you should ask Artemis Nightmare to show you your Memorbs.** "

"Memorbs?"

" **Artemis Nightmare is also the guardian of dreams and memories, a duty he inherited from Nightmare Moon. As a dream hopper, he can visit people's dreams, nightmares, and memories in the unconscious parts of their minds. He archives everything he sees in each individual in Memorbs that are unique depending on the person they belong to. If you really want to, ask him to show you yours.** "

Ruby nodded. Penelope gently pushed her towards the opening, her bluish eyes saying a tearful goodbye. But first, Ruby turned back to give Penelope a hug, which the startled latter reciprocated a few seconds later. Finally, Ruby went through the glowing opening and found herself waking up in a pit and Sean throwing dirt at her.

"Sean, what the Hell?" she demanded as she bursted upwards and threw the dirt back at him.

"Ruby, you're alive!" Ingwer exclaimed as she hugged the dirty girl. Sean, in the meantime, was spitting the dirt out of his mouth.

Ruby looked around and saw that they were standing at the back of Riddle's Graveyard Post and she was standing in what appeared to be a coffin-sized pit.

"Were you guys burying me?" Ruby frowned.

"Well, you didn't wake up when we were in the temple," Fork said after he hugged her. "And when Proserpine couldn't tell if you were still alive or not, we...well..."

"We assumed you were dead," Ingwer finished.

"Sò whàt hòrròrs dìd yòu sèè?" Proserpine asked. "Bècàusè wè wèrè àll tràumàtizèd by òur fèàrs!"

"Well, I...I kinda met Penna's good side," Ruby tried to say. Everyone (including Biggie) stared t her like she spoke an alien language.

"Hilarious, Rubes," Sean snorted. "Since when does the Devil have a good side?"

"Well, I should hope not!" a male voice said. The ground shook and roots twirling and moving like tentacles grabbed the teenagers by their ankles, waists, and wrists, and rose them up in the air. Those with magical powers couldn't use their abilities due to the roots constricting their grips like snakes the more they struggled. Biggie, in the meantime, ran off unsuspected.

The teens stopped struggling when they saw something jump off from a tree and walk towards them. That something was a seventeen-year-old Caucasian boy with greenish black bangs that barely hid his shaved head, eyes brown as dry bark, a red leather cap short sleeved shirt, a black collar, venom green medieval cuff bracelets, dark green rag pants, and red running shoes. His pale hand with gray fingernails was holding a wand that emitted small green bolts and sparked as he aimed it at the roots.

"Devil's Snare," he pointed his wand at the roots, making their grips on the quintet tighten. He snickered as they groaned in pain. "Honestly, I didn't think you'd make it this far, but I'm sure her Ladyship will be delighted when I bring you to her."

"What are you? Another one of her minions we don't know about?" Sean demanded.

"Oh, I'd tell you, really," the boy said in a smug tone while several snakes emerged from the shadows and morphed into snake headed soldiers, "but we can't be late for the party."


	72. Half-Captured, Half-Welcomed

Chapter 72: Half-Captured, Half-Welcomed

Positively speaking, the Devil Snare was no longer bounding their wrists and ankles, which spared them from further agony. Averagely speaking, now they were tied up by it and forced by the snake-headed soldiers to walk in a line with the mysterious, sadistic boy, on the lead. Negatively speaking, even though Professor Vanderfleet taught them in Botanical Biochemistry that relaxation and light were the weaknesses of the Devil Snare, none of the prisoners dared to relax or even use pyrokinesis (for Proserpine's case): after giving a 'live demonstration' concerning two Unforgivable Curses on one of the snake-headed soldiers, Murder Boy made it clear that he'd be bringing their corpses to his boss if they dared to fight back.

They left the temple and walked downhill, seeing the full view of the ruins of Pompeii. What really stunned the quintet was that, unlike the way ancient pictures depicted the extinct town as a tourist attraction, Pompeii literally looked like an apocalyptic Rome with 90% of it being crumbled villas, forums full of dissected columns, handicapped statues, and 10% of it being silver buildings with green, twisted snake carvings, fountains with cobra statues spitting venom, and almost a million snakes of all species slithering in the houses and around the town as if they were normal people.

"What is this, Serpentinopolis?" Sean asked drily as he tried to avoid glaring back at a couple cobras that seemed to be enjoying swallowing rats at a nearby ancient and ruined café.

"Shut your mouth unless you're spoken too, you dirty half-blood!" the boy snarled at Sean's face, making the cecaelia regret speaking if it meant dealing with the boy's foul breath.

"Excuse me?" Ruby tried to ask the boy politely. "I'm just wondering how much further we have to walk to Penna's house...especially since I don't see any kind of big castle fit for a...lady like her." Ruby could feel herself struggling to avoid spilling out her sour tone while trying to smooth talk the boy, who only grimaced at her with more disgust than he did with the others.

"You aren't being taken to her castle in Mount Vesuvius," he said while pointing at a diagonal, surprisingly clear street that led straight to the active Mount Vesuvius. Even though they were at least 10 miles away from the volcano, they could still see the entrance of a tunnel that was shaped like...

"The head from the Tarrian River's source," Ingwer realized when she saw a basilisk slithering out of it. "Shit, now I remember! That sculpted head is the one of Salazar Slytherin, the pureblooded wizard fanatic ancestor of Voldemort and Penna who kept a basilisk hidden in the Chamber of Secrets!"

"Such a great wizard he was!" the boy sighed in admiration while the snake-headed soldiers continued to push the prisoners forward. "Her Ladyship had the sculpture removed from the Chamber and placed in her domain when she came here..."

"Nòw thàt Ì thìnk àbòut ìt..." Proserpine began.

"Do you people ever _shut up?_ " the boy snapped.

" **BAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNN!** " A familiar voice shrilled in the air, making the ground shake, the passing snakes cower back to the nearest houses, and the snake-headed soldiers and the boy nearly tremble.

"Nàh, quèstìòn ànswèrèd." Proserpine shrugged.

 _Five minutes later, at the Plaza De Mort_

Proserpine's question, before the scream came, was where the heck is Penna De Mort.

The answer: at a so-called park right by Mount Vesuvius in a position where they could have been all crisped by flooding lava and where they could see the thing they were looking for right behind an orchard of dead cypress trees. Right behind the dark trunks was a barbed fence...made of actual spiked asps separating the depressing park from the abyss where one suicidal jump could lead them right to Nightmare Moon's territory.

But just how on Earth was the quintet going to ditch the local villains and go through a fence made of venomous snakes just to get to an endless pit?

Speaking of the park, which was named Plaza De Mort, it was completely self-centered on its namesake: if you weren't walking on a rocky pathway as smooth and cold as her skin, you'd be walking on the endless field of black Ophiopogon as dark as her hair. If you weren't looking at her rows of black roses and teal poppies that matched her two hair colors, you'd be looking at the garden pool shaped like an open snake mouth and full of pink venom, reflecting her rosy, but poisonous lips. And if you weren't staring at the impossible to count statues and busts of herself as cold as the color of her eyes, you'd be wondering why on earth the dark park was full of black and red party decorations, a buffet, and a harlequin-styled cake.

Several people (a majority of them people that none of the quintet knew) stopped what they were doing and turned to face the prisoners with equal stares of disgust and hatred.

"Bayen," an angry voice rose from the crowd that parted to make way to the sorceress who had been causing them so much trouble.

Much to the prisoners' mixed disturbance and fascination, Penna De Mort was in a long sleeved, backless teal evening dress with black lace that was designed like slithering rattlesnake tails. The dress' mermaid skirt was slit on both sides, revealing the witch's unimaginably curvy, slender and bare hips and legs toned by her lavender skin and decorated with diamond chain jewelry and black open-toed heels. The dress was also unable to reserve her hourglass waist and insane cleavage. Penna's black hair with teal strikes was tied up in a bun that elegantly let out a cascade of curls over her bare shoulders while her ears and neck had snake jewelry. Her wings were folded behind her back like a vampire's cape, her rosy lips were pouting in anger and her blue eyes, sharper than the local reptiles, were glaring with bitter cold.

They were used to seeing her with a bare midriff, exposed cleavage, and tight outfits like most girls at Dragon Hall, but here, in her domain, she was like a goddess, a queen. Everyone was staring at her in fear, admiration, terror, or loyalty. Even the boy who had ensured the quintet's capture was ogling at her and on the verge of drooling all the possible saliva from his mouth.

"Mi...milady!" He jumped on his knees and bowed to the sorceress. If this story were an anime, everyone would have sweat dropped just from seeing this sadistic teenager turn into a fanatic with pink hearts instead of eyes. "I found the enemy by..."  
 **WHACK!**

The quintet grimaced, the crowd gasped in fear, and the boy grunted in pain when Penna struck her hand on his cheek, making her sure that her filed, polished nails were sharp enough to give him bleeding scratches. If that wasn't enough, she kicked in the stomach, sending him crashing back first on a stone foundation.

"You bumbling fool! Of all the days when I can't kill, you had to bring _them_ here _today_?" She snarled. She then glanced at the group, narrowing her eyes when she saw Ruby. "What? YOU'RE STILL ALIVE?"

"You know, feel free to kill me at any time of the day," Ruby shrugged. "After what I lived through for the past few weeks..."

"No one asked for your opinion, you filthy...GAAH!" The boy couldn't finish his snarling thanks to Penna's sharp manicure.

"If I had... **a NICKLE** for all the times I keep telling myself to dispose of you, I'd be richer than I am now!" She scowled at him, making him cringe.

"And, who is he again?" Sean frowned.

"The doofus is Bayen, the son of Bellatrix...Voldemort's most loyal Death Eater." Penna muttered while Bayen got up.

"The mad witch who had a crush on your..." Ingwer gagged. "Oh god, don't tell me..." She tried to point between the daughter of Voldemort and the son of Bellatrix Lestrange. "Are you two..."

"HELL, NO!" Penna screamed. A building fell down a couple blocks away in Pompeii. She turned to face the crowd and barked at them. "This just became a teenager's party. Anyone who is not one or is currently drinking alcohol **GET OUT! SCRAM! GO AROUND THE RUINS TO MAKE SURE THAT I DON'T FIND ANOTHER BUNCH OF INTRUDERS LURKING IN MY HOME!** "

"Yes, your Ladyship!" they said in unison. Without even blinking, all the adults turned into black smoke and flew in different directions, leaving behind trail of smokes. Aside from the imprisoned quintet, Bayen, and Penna De Mort, the only other members present were some blond boy in a tacky pink outfit, a girl with a punk brown hairstyle, and a short boy with odd rat-like buck teeth and a hairstyle similar to Bonaparte's hat. The sorceress groaned as she sat down on a garden chair (obvious design) and mumbled to herself while pinching her nose. "Brittany, when is Minuit coming with Jessie?"

"They're running late from that job back in the city, Your Ladyship," the punk brunette answered. She wore a black biker's jacket over some cotton raw umber colored shirt with a green snake design on it, grey skinny ripped jeans with bottom snake designs, a burgundy silk belt, ankle and knuckle bracelets, and lime green heel sandals.

"Gee, I wonder where they're running late from," Ruby said sarcastically. Her friends gave her looks warning to shut up while the enemy stared at her baffled. "Oh, yeah! Now I remember! I heard the doctor at Arkham said my mom needed Naga's venom for a permanent coma!" Ruby glared at Penna, burning hazel against iced blue. "You really enjoy killing mothers, don't you? Tradaria and now my..."

"You met her, didn't you?" Penna hissed at Ruby. The sorceress got up and walked just close enough to face Ruby in a staring contest of hatred. Whenever she walked, the grass got darker. "You met her instead of your worst fears. Why?"

"What's it to you if I met your _good side_ , Penelope?" Ruby talked back.

"Don't you dare call me that, Rebecca!"

"Time out!" Fork said. "So, Ruby wasn't kidding when she said that she ran into De Mort's 'good side'...if she has any?"

"No, it seems like instead of getting mentally killed by her fears as you were all supposed to have been back at the temple I created out of my pathetic Muggle grandfather, Rebecca here instead ended up meeting my...weaker self in one of the alternate dimensions I trapped her in," Penna answered, not removing her stare from Rebecca. "I should have killed you once I learned that you shot at one of my pythonacondas."

"Add basilisk blood, Your Ladyship," the short boy said as he limped towards them, sniffing the air. His nose then directed at Ruby's trapped hands, which he grabbed and sniffed at her adamantium nails. He gasped and let go of her. " _Bloodyle's blood!_ That dirty blood has injured your basilisk sister, Dark Hearted One!"

Penna's other teen minions gasped, the other members of the quintet gulped nervously, and Penna's murderous glare increased as she clenched her fists while she continued to confront the undeterred Ruby. "If I find out she's dead because of _you_..."

"I blinded her, not killed her," Ruby cut her off. "She tried to kill one of my friends for sport and the person who bothered helping us out while you made me the meat entrée to every monster in this damn forest during this quest! So excuse me if your cold blooded heart doesn't give a damn about us risking our lives just to go to your neighbor's house while you treat people like crap every day and doze off in Ego Town at garden parties on a daily basis!"

Penna said nothing. Back then, it was unsettling for everyone if Penna De Mort said nothing and just stood there, calm, as if a Muggle just hadn't badmouthed her. All she did was shrug, slightly turn her head, put her left index and middle fingers in her mouth, and blow a sharp whistle that made everyone grit their teeth in pain.

"Bad golly, she summoned Naga!" the pink dressed boy exclaimed. He and the short boy rushed to hug Brittany in fear while something moved in the flower rows.

"Ànòthèr bàsìlìsk?" Proserpine asked as they watched Penna bend down on her knees, keeping herself up on her tiptoes, and stared at the moving flowers.

"Worse," the short boy whimpered.

The flowers rustled even more until...a normal sized green boa constrictor with black marks on its back came slithering.

" _That's Naga_?" Ruby hissed. "The same snake you used venom to kill my mom?" Of course, Penna ignored the comment.

"Naga, Mommy's here!" Penna opened her arms for the snake that slithered and hissed towards her, opening its fanged mouth and licking her mistress' cheeks with her forked tongue affectionately as if Naga were a lovesick puppy rather than a large, venomous snake that killed Catwoman. "Aw, you were such a nasty little thing today, weren't you?" The snake nodded its head gleefully while Penna cooed at it in an odd, affectionate way.

"Please tell me that she isn't being affectionate with that...thing," Fork muttered.

"Naga is her pet," Brittany quivered. "Naga is...also...the progeny of Nagini."

A terrible shiver ran down the captive quintet's spines, for if the reputation of Voldemort was hard to forget in the villainous culture, the stories of his loyal pet snake Nagini was never forgotten, especially since the snake was considered a mixed breed between a boa because of the size and scale colors and a viper because of the venomous fangs.

Penna stopped fawning over Naga and gave an ordering look at Bayen, who must have known what she meant, since he pointed his wand at Ruby and shouted: " _EMANCIPARE!_ " The Devil Snare's entrapping Ruby loosened, making her land harshly on the dark ground.

"Ruby, meet Naga who helped contribute in killing your mother to my grand satisfaction," Penna motioned Naga to Ruby as if she were introducing her to a new student at school. While the brunette tried to get up, the sorceress spoke something to the snake in some sort of language: " _Mesoche, maileike. Mesoche, laizso iss eaye saichya saoschiz!_ "

"Parseltongue..." Ingwer gasped in realization as she tried in vain to free herself from her tightening bonds. "Ruby, get out of the way!"

Ruby only understood the message at the last minute when Naga dove at her, hissing furiously at the teenager while coiling herself around her body. The brunette screamed as she tackled and kicked Naga, who kept hissing, tightening her coils (which was no better than the Devil's Snare), and attempting to bite Ruby.

"That's low, Penna!" Ingwer growled at the sorceress as the latter watched with sadistic humor the tackling scene with her minions.

"I know, right?" the witch said gleefully.

"Wait...what about today being a no-killing day?" the short boy asked.

"Roedor's got a point, your Ladyship," Brittany added cautiously to her boss. "You said that we weren't supposed to kill anybody on days like this...even you."

"Oh, shut up, Crouch!" Bayen spat before giving suggestive stares at Penna. "Her Ladyship is all powerful enough to bend the rules..."

"Hiya, guys! We're back!" another familiar voice came, followed by a bunch of yapping. The newcomers were none other than Minuit Sparkle and Jessie Joker, along with two other familiar faces that the quintet hoped to have never encountered during their trip.

Indimia Rex and Bloodyle Silisk.

"Bloodyle!" Penna flew towards the basilisk girl, who thanks to Ruby was now blindfolded and forced to be led around by Indimia. Indimia made way for Voldemort's daughter as the latter removed the cloth, exposing Bloodyle's blind eyes stained with dry blood.

" _Sister..._ " Bloodyle whimpered. She clutched Penna by the shoulder's like a whimpering child while Penna traced a line on the former's eyes with her hand and chanted: " _Episkey._ " A teal glow came and went, followed by Bloodyle being overjoyed by seeing things again.

"Trespassing my territory just to visit my blasted Equestrian neighbor and blinding my foster sister are crimes against my name," Penna said. She walked in front of her ranked minions, most of them whimpering in fear except for Minuit and Jessie, like a general in front of an army. "These fools have done all of the above," she pointed at the quintet, "but because of today, their execution will be suspended until the party's over."

Naga hissed in frustration as she stopped assaulting Ruby without leaving her in her coils.

"You arranged an execution as an after-birthday party gift?" Jessie exclaimed before going right on bear hugging Penna De Mort. The quintet nearly lost their jaws when they saw Penna accepting a hug from the clownish girl.

"In...a way," Penna struggled to smile while Jessie kept hugging her. "Happy birthday...Jessie!"

"Hey, J.J? Maybe you want to give her some air?" Minuit arched an eyebrow.

"Oops. Sorry." Jessie let go of Penna, who instantly began rubbing her sides. "Sorry we ran late, boss, but Minuit and I went on a shopping spree after our trip in Arkham!"

"So we see," the pink dressed boy commented when he saw all the shopping boxes and bags that Minuit had placed on a table in a pyramid stack.

"She gets more spoiled than I ever was!" Minuit whispered at him.

"You had sixteen years of your life with me while she had only seven. Don't start complaining," Penna scolded Minuit.

"Uh, am I missing something?" Ruby frowned at Naga, who gave the hissing equivalent of a shrug.

"Catsy!" Jessie exclaimed. Soon, it was Ruby's turn to be suffocated in a bear hug from Jessie Joker...while she was still trapped in Naga's coils. "You made it to my 15th B-Day party before you're going to die! You're the best! Oh, wait! You gotta meet my peeps!" She motioned the...party villains. "Ya already met Misty Big Boss, who raised me after my daddy and mommy dumped me on the streets because they don't understand what it means to have a great role model..."

"I might cry...if I had tears," Penna sighed, a hand on her heart.

"Minuit here and I grew up together after Misty Big Boss took me in. Sure, Minuit can be annoying almost 90% of the time, but she is like a big sister to me!"

"Aw," Minuit said in a mix of dry and touched.

Meanwhile, as Jessie 'introduced her peeps to Ruby', Sean felt something loose...like the Devil Snare entrapping him was loosening. Just to make sure that nobody noticed him, he cautiously pulled out one of his back tentacles and calmly, but cautiously moved it down to feel a creature chewing the floral bonds of his wrists. The creature paused its chewing and slightly bit Sean's tentacle. As he hid the tentacle back in place, he secretly smiled in relief as Biggie continued to chew undetected.

"Punky badass here is Brittany Crouch," Jessie continued. "Her dad is Barty Crouch Junior, a cool guy!"

"Sup?" Brittany rolled her eyes as she gave a mock peace sign with her fingers.

"Bucky Teeth there is her boyfriend Roedor Pettigrew, Wormtail's kid. Pinkie Pie by my presents there is Drystan Troy Umbridge..."

"Mistress, you're letting this Muggle call us names again?" Drystan complained to Penna. "She just called me a pony..." Penna glared at him and meaningfully showed him her sharp nails, which made him gulp. "Oh, Pinkie Pie is an _absolutely_ perfect nickname!"

"And then you met Bayen Lestrange. He's a complete doofus who likes to think he's better than everyone else..."

"I DO NOT!" Bayen exclaimed indignantly before he turned to see that the others just whistled or admired their shoes rather than say anything.

"And he's got a _creepy_ crush on Misty Big Boss because of family history," Jessie continued babbling to Ruby, who looked like she was watching a weird cartoon rather than listen to a clown babbling while a snake was threatening to squeeze the life out of her. "I mean, just before the Halloween party back in town, he was hiding in an Invisibility Cloak and taking shots of her while she was bathing!"

Bayen screamed like a little girl.

"Oh, this can't be good," Fork commented when they saw Penna cracking her knuckles and pulling off one earring to turn it into a diamond whip.

"Excuse us for a minute." The sorceress grabbed Bayen by the hair and dragged him out of sight. For the next couple of minutes, screams and slashes were heard, and at one point, they heard Bayen asking hopelessly if telling Penna that she looked more beautiful than Venus while bathing would spare him.

The screams and slashing got worse.

"And I thought Amelia Hall's crush on my boyfriend was worse," Ruby said. Naga hissed a shrug.

"He does know that she doesn't like him, right?" Ingwer asked the others.

"Nah, he's no smarter than my mommy was with my daddy," Jessie said.

"Bayen's a complete pea brain," Brittany agreed. "You'd think that after seventeen years of loyal servitude continued by her kicking and rejecting him, he'd get the message."

"Ugh, remember Valentine's Day?" Drystan added. Mentioning the holiday made his comrades shudder.

"Bad year?" Sean guessed. He grinned to himself when his freed hands clutched the chewed Devil Snare's in order to keep the prisoner' pose and used his fingers to tell Biggie to do the same thing to the others.

"Three years ago, he claimed he'd win her praise by being her evening bodyguard and breakfast server." Minuit shook her head.

"Let me guess," Ruby said sarcastically. "He can't cook at all, so she got mad at him for ruining her pancakes."

"No, that's _my_ job to ruin people's breakfasts." Roedor raised his hand. "It's the bodyguard thing that didn't work out."

"His idea of bodyguarding is to guard the mistress in her room...as she is a person who keeps herself heavily locked up in her room when she sleeps...and who has a tendency of tossing and turning while unconscious...and using lingerie as PJs since her body has its own reasons to combust all those we gave her..." Brittany rubbed the back of her head.

"Let's just say that telling her she was a gorgeous Sleeping Beauty while you're in her room on Valentine's Day did not help prevent her screams from making Vesuvius erupt." Jessie grimaced. "The lava destroyed the game room."

" **Such a waste** ," Indimia sighed and shook her head. " **A very beloved pool table was lost**..."

" _Indimia, it was just a pool table! We got a new one, remember?_ " Bloodyle rolled her eyes.

Another slash and another scream came out of sight. Finally, Penna came back dragging Bayen by the collar. The quintet gasped when they saw his clothes ripped and bleeding from the whip slashing. His skin had signs of bruises, indicating that he was kicked severely.

"That...witch...is AMAZING!" he said dizzily before Penna tossed him into the pool like a ragdoll. Bayen yelped once he contacted the pink venom and ran out of the water like Captain Hook running away from the crocodile.

"Hè's stìll àlìvè?" Proserpine frowned as she felt Biggie chewing her bonds as well.

"I try to have him killed, really I do," Penna mumbled, "but he can stand every torture I put him through the same way brainwashing doesn't work on Jessie because of her hereditary insanity."

"The joys of being mad! That reminds me, I have to introduce the babies!" Jessie whistled similarly to Penna whistling, only this time the earlier yapping came, followed by a large pack of young hyenas, the youngest being mere cubs.

"The hyena cubs you stole from the tribe!" Ruby realized. She glared at Penna while the other minions were avoiding the puppies that raced to cuddle Jessie.

"So I stole a bunch of hyena cubs as past birthday presents for Jessie," Penna said smugly. "You do what you think is best for your minions...especially those that you raise. Take Minuit and Jessie." Penna put her hands on the shoulders of Minuit and Jessie (the latter cuddling four of the oldest hyenas cubs) and pulled them close to her. "Abandoned by their parents, left to rot in the streets of the Isle of the Lost, where an abandoned child means no limitations to any kind of assault. Minuit could have been eaten by Ingwer's mother if she found Minuit by the Tarrian River seconds after Midnight Sparkle shunned her at birth!" Penna let her hands go off their shoulders and began pacing around them as she continued to talk. "Honestly, Minuit, do you think it was fair what your mother did? She finally got pregnant with a child she wanted, but when her unstable magical molecular metabolism threatened to kill you at birth, I made a deal with her to have you as a servant in exchange for saving your life. She could have kept you, raised you, and done other maternal duties. Is that so horrible to ask?"

"It isn't," Minuit said. "But she tried to get rid of me because she promised I'd be yours. So barely after I was ten seconds old, she tried to drop me in the Tarrian River at the French Quarter."

"And who made her pay back by exploding her into ash and taking you in, raising you as my own for sixteen years?" Penna pointed at herself with both hands. "Moi."

"And you took in Jessie and gave her stolen hyenas as presents after the Joker and Harley Quinn shunned her and killed her pets because they saw you as a parasite to everyone," Ruby snarled. "Next thing you know, you raised them to be heartless bullies with no sense of morality!"

"That is not true!" Jessie stood up in defense. "We do have some morality! Otherwise, what's the point of the No-Kill Day?"

"The No-Kill Day?" Fork frowned while Biggie chewed his bonds. "What the heck is that?"

"Thanks to my...rather educational father," Penna spat the last three words with such disgust that indicated she really hated Voldemort, "my first sixteen birthdays involved killing a person and shredding a part of my soul into a Horcrux."

" _So instead of doing a classic birthday cake and balloons, you get a future corpse_ ," Bloodyle said.

"So I made this thing of 'There shall be no killing on birthdays whatsoever'!"

"Speaking of birthdays," Jessie let go of her hyenas and went to cling Penna's right arm, "did ya get me more hyenas?"

"The same gift every year," Drystan sighed. Brittany kicked his foot in order to make him shut up.

"Oh, J.J, I wanted to give you hyenas again for your birthday, I swear on the River Styx," Penna pouted while she cupped her hands on Jessie's pale cheeks, "but the local hyenas got smarter. They decided to drive their species to extinction."

"They got desperate!" a recovered Bayen sneered, followed by equal sneering from the other evil teens.

"But don't worry, J.J. I always come with a backup plan." Penna snapped her fingers and a red-and-black wrapped box the size of a coffin appeared in her hands. "Or in this case, a backup _present_!"

The Joker and Harley Quinn's daughter squealed in glee as she snatched the present from the hands of Voldemort's daughter. As Jessie had her hyenas Bella, Lolo, Uchungu, and Kicheko (the four hyenas she had cuddled earlier) rip off the wrapping paper with their teeth, Biggie had managed to chew off Ingwer's bonds. "Now?" She mouthed at Sean. "Not yet!" He mouthed back.

"Ah!" Jessie squealed even louder when she pulled out her present: a mallet half her height with a black handle, the head designed to be part black with red diamond designs and part red with black diamonds (the classic evil harlequin design), and each face having the words "PROPERTY OF THE JESTING JOKER" in the respective color scheme. "My own mallet!" Her eyes widened when saw blades, darts, an ax blade, and another diversity of dangerous sharp pointy objects came out. "With its own arsenal!"

"You love it, don't you?" Penna pinched Jessie's cheek affectionately.

"Best birthday present _ever_! Thank you, boss!" An evil grin appeared on Jessie's black lips as she turned to face Ruby, still trapped in Naga's coils. "And I know just how I'll start using it!"

"Easy there, J.J, it's No-Kill Day," Roedor warned.

"Nobody said anything about sawing off her arms and legs, dicing them, smashing them, and feeding them to the babies." The hyenas chuckled in excitement as Jessie summoned a spinning saw blade from the mallet before giving puppy eyes to Penna. "Pretty please, Big Boss? It's not killing...just severely handicapping!"

"A Killing Curse would be more formal, please and thank you!" Ruby exclaimed. Naga tightened the coils in order to make her shut up.

"Well I _did_ say that we wouldn't kill on birthdays." Penna rubbed her cheek in satisfaction. "Then again, I never said anything about handicapping and mauling. Of course you and your babies can torture that dirty blood before we officially kill her..."

"ÌN YÒUR DRÈÀMS!" Proserpine bursted out to reveal her free hands and shot a blast of fire at Penna, who crossed her arms and created a magical shield to protect her from the shooting flames. As the others freed themselves from the chewed Devil Snare, Biggie bit Naga, forcing the pained snake to release Ruby, who did not hesitate to kick Naga away from her and far enough for the snake to fall into the pool. Penna screamed in pain as Naga coiled miserably in the venom until Bloodyle dove in and fetched Naga.

"GET THEM!" Penna ordered.

"Babies attack!" Jessie pointed at the quintet with her mallet, sending at legion of at least sixteen hyenas at them.

Brittany, Drystan, Roedor, and Bayen pulled out their wands. " _Aguamenti_!" The four wands shot together a big blast of water at Proserpine that knocked her onto a tree and flushed away her fire blast.

" _Avis Oppugno!_ " Ingwer used her mother's spoon to create a flock of attacking ravens at the evil four wizards and witch, who dropped their wands in order to shoo away the birds with their hands. "Good thing I took an extra credit class in Villainous Witchcraft!" Ingwer said while helping Proserpine.

Sean used his tentacles to whip away half of the hyenas that tried to eat him. "Get off me!" He then spun around like a tornado, making his spinning tentacles knock out the rest of the annoying varmints! "Strike-AAH!" Jessie hit him hard with the wooden face of her mallet, sending him crashing in the dirt. He lifted his head up just in time to see her lift up her mallet to smash his skull.

"Nobody... _hurts...my..._ _ **BABIES!**_ " She screamed before an ice chunk entrapped her body fully.

"And nobody hurts my friend," Fork said. Sean grinned at him as the ice prince helped him get up.

"And none of you are getting away!" Minuit Sparkle landed in front of them in a jeerleading pose, her hands full of magical blasts, and Indimia held out her clawed fists at them.

"This...is gonna hurt," Sean said as they charged.

Meanwhile, while the others were battling, Penna and Ruby found themselves facing one another by the cypress orchard that kept the quintet barely a few inches from reaching the fence.

"I just have one question for you, Penelope," Ruby said. Her knuckles tightened and the heat in her body increased as she stared at Penna, so cold and stoic.

"Shoot," she said.

"Out of all the villains that you've tortured and ruined their lives because they had chances of happiness and love that you could never have, why did you choose me, a nobody who did nothing to you personally until just now, to make me suffer as if I am your personal Harry Potter?"

"Unlike how you make it appear, Rebecca, you are not my personal Harry Potter but a personal piece of unfinished business," Penna said calmly as she walked towards Ruby while moving her hips like snake coils. "The mere fact that you, a dirty blood, is walking this Earth with such golden hope no matter what misery you get tossed at. The fact that a weakling like you gets up from her bullies and acts so tough only when her friends are in trouble. The fact that you were born from the most impossible form of love that ever existed while I was born unable to love at all."

"You were born with enough love to raise Jessie Joker and Minuit Sparkle and pamper them despite them not being from your own story!" Ruby exclaimed. "Why can't you see that, Penelope?"

" _The way I care for them is not the way my pathetic other half sees it!_ " Penna grabbed Ruby and began squeezing her neck. Ruby gasped for air while Penna continued strangling and talking. "I can't love the way you can, Rebecca. My mother died while giving birth and harshly some maternal love to me. Voldemort couldn't understand love or children, so he had the basilisks nurture me in their own predatorial way. But _you_..." She snorted. "You had parents who loved you until I managed to drive them apart and eventually kill your mother, but even though I tried to make you personally suffer as I have, you just end up having everything I never had! Friends who stood up for you despite who you are, villains who just simply adore a Muggle like you enough to want as their own child, and a homicidal prince Charming who desires you despite you being a petty thief!"

"So...you're jealous...of me big time," Ruby said smugly as she tried coughing for air.

"More than you can imagine," Penna agreed. "So ask yourself this and make a decision before I crush your windpipes: what would destroy you the most if you survive after this hour? My Killing Curse? Or discovering the truth about your paternal if you take the Memorb from my nemesis?"

" **SECTUMSEMPRA!"**

Really, Bayen meant to throw that curse on Ingwer, but Sean had grabbed her by the waist with one of his tentacles and managed to pull her out of the way just in time. But no one could have seen it coming, and none of the evil teen minions could have warned on time, but the Sectumsempra curse blast ended up accidently hitting Penna, forcing her to let go of Ruby and fall to the ground.

" _PENNA_!" Bloodyle screamed.

"Your Ladyship!" Brittany exclaimed.

"Big Boss!" Jessie cried.

"It was an accident!" Bayen swore in horrible guilt.

Such a spell would have killed anyone by the second once the Sectumsempra curse hits that person, but since Penna De Mort had been forced to live an endless immortality from her sixteen Horcruxes, the spell only slashed her chest severely, and she was now screaming and whining in agony in the middle of a black blood pool and devastated minions while Ruby was lifted up on her feet by Proserpine and the quintet along with Biggie ran threw the cypress. As soon as they reached the fence, the snakes forming it hissed at it until they spotted the wounded Penna back in the garden. Without even blinking, they dropped their post and rushed at her aid.

"Wow, they seriously worship her," Sean said. They walked a few more inches until they came face to face with the abyss.

"The way to the Everfree Sector," Ruby said as she pulled out the moonstone from her bag and tossed it into the endless pit of darkness. She took a deep breath. "Ready?"

"Always." Ingwer took her hand.

"That's just how we are, Rubes," Sean said and did similarly.

"And that's how we want to stay," Fork joined in.

"Tògèthèr," Proserpine said.

"Together," they all said.

By the time Penna De Mort recovered and attempted to shoot a Cruciatus curse at them once she reached her destroyed fence, a blue light had consumed the group and baby raptor that had just jumped into the abyss.

Naga slithered and rubbed her head on Penna's bare leg while Minuit and Jessie joined her in staring down at the abyss.

"If Nightmare Moon doesn't make you her permanent visitors," Penna muttered until she screamed loud enough to make Vesuvius erupt, " **I'LL BE THE ONE CRUSHING YOUR HEART AND RIPPING YOUR HIDE OFF WITH MY BARE HANDS, REBECCA KYLE**!"


	73. So Everfreely Transformed

Chapter 73: So Everfreely Transformed

"Guys, what's happening?" Ingwer shouted.

Normally speaking, they should be falling down to their deaths in a bottomless abyss, but instead they found themselves floating in an endless space of endless shades of ethereal blue. The way their bodies floated and hairs flowed in midair felt like they were dipping in the middle of the ocean. Only this ocean was full of colorful lights moving around, shining like mobile stars.

"Thìs...rèmìnds mè òf thè Drèàmwòrld," Proserpine said.

Sean held onto Biggie in order to keep her close. "Dreamworld?"

Some of the sparkles floating around approached the group, making them stare in awe and fascination at such a parade of rainbow fireflies. Many of them moved in formations of constellations, but one of them in particular caught Ruby's attention: sixteen small golden ones in a bat-like constellation. While fifteen of them outlined the constellation, the last one shone the brightest at the heart. As the dazzling glow hypnotized the hazel eyes, the happy laughter she had heard in an old vision charmed her heart. Like in a trance, Ruby couldn't keep herself and touched the bright constellation at its heart. A ding and a large ripple of light echoed in the ethereal environment. Some sort of violent breeze was heard, and soon all the sparkles stared to crowd around the floating teenagers.

"Again, what's happening?" Ingwer screamed as the sparkles pulled her closer to Sean, Fork, and Proserpine.

"I touched one of them!" Ruby exclaimed as a bunch of stars separated her from the others.

"You did WHAT?" Fork lost his words when two vortexes of rainbow lights and sparkles engulfed them and sent four of them in one direction and the last one in another.

 _After what seemed like an eternity of light travel_

They screamed as they landed on a field of flowers.

"Ìt's frèèzìng!" Proserpine jumped onto her feet and rubbed her arms in the hopes of warming herself up. But it didn't work. The temperature was cold and stung their skins like hornets.

"I'm the son of Jadis the White Witch!" Fork complained as he rubbed his hands together. "I'm immune to cold weather but this is ridiculous!"

"Guys, Ingwer's unconscious!" Sean held an unconscious Ingwer and a surprisingly tired Biggie in his arms.

"I...can't feel my legs...anymore," Fork said as he began to crumble dizzily and yawn.

A flash came and they found themselves standing on a road made of moonstones at the middle of the flowers. They were no longer tired, but they were very cold.

"Ingwer, wake up!" Sean tried desperately to shake Ruby in order to wake her up.

"You'll have to kiss her to wake up, darling."

The group looked up and saw a girl of sixteen standing before them on the road. Her black and evening blue dress had a ruffle skirt, a moon designed boat neckline exposing her shoulders, white opera gloves and knee high heeled boots, a diamond choker and necklace, crescent moon loop earrings, and a black band that kept her long, violet, burgundy, and cream colored hair together in a ponytail that reached her hips. Her purple was of a night violet hue, her eyes icy blue, and her lips lavender colored. She was rather beautiful...after Penna De Mort.

"Excuse me?" Sean asked.

"Don't just stand there, darling! Kiss her!" the girl said in her Mid-Atlantic accent. Sean was confused, but he just did as he was told and leaned down to kiss Ingwer, who leaned upward and gasped for air before smiling at Sean.

"That's...the second time you're using CPR to save me," she noted as her body shivered from the cold.

"Oh, you four need to dress up! Hold on for just a minute!" The girl waved her hands at them and a few diamond-shaped magic later, the visitors found themselves in the most amazing lunar outfits they've ever seen. ( **Author's note: to view the outfits and avoid long descriptions, just admire the Lunar Escape outfits on the VH page of my Deviantart** ).

"They're beautiful..." Ingwer twirled in her dress. "I can't even feel the cold!"

"That's good! You definetly couldn't spend an hour here without protection from the cold."

"Yèàh, why ìs thìs plàcè sò còld?" Proserpine looked around them. Aside from the moonstone road and the field of flowers, they were surrounded by endless trees and a dark blue sky full of numerous stars and a bright super moon that served as a light source.

"Oh, that's just the way the Moon is: like my aunt, it can be very cold," the girl said.

"Your aunt?" Ingwer frowned.

"Ah! How silly of me!" the girl giggled. She curtsied formally while holding the folds of her skirts. "Allow me to introduce myself! My name is Radiance Nightmare, daughter of Nightmare Rarity, niece of the Everfree Sector Queen Nightmare Moon, and cousin of the barrier guardian Artemis Nightmare." She winked at Sean. "And that makes me a princess."

"Uh...OK," Sean said rather uncomfortably.

"It's a good thing I used magic to pull you out of those poppies," Radiance said as she kneeled down and picked one of the flowers from the field while she remained on the road. She showed them the flower, which turned out to be a cyan blue colored poppy.

"I thought poppies were red," Fork said.

"They are once you put them in warm weather," Radiance said, "but here, where they originally bred on the moon-FYI, aside from being the Everfree Forest, this is also the part of the Moon that Nightmare Moon once resided in during her exile- these poppies are blue. Here, where the night is cold and dreams are so warm...They're supposed to make you fall asleep, which can be eternal if you sniff a lot of the pollen. Luckily, they can't grow on moonstones, so that's why it's safer to walk on the moonstone road."

"Moonstone road, poppies that make you sleep until you're kissed..." Sean thought out loud before asking Radiance. "Are these the same poppies that surrounded the Emerald City of Oz?"

"Handsome _and_ smart," Radiance said impressively as she went in to stroke his cheek while missing Ingwer's cheeks increasing in color. "The poppies were given by Nightmare Moon to the Wicked Witch of the West when she wanted to keep Dorothy from finding the wizard."

"Were the poppies also used to make Maleficent's sleeping curse?" Ingwer interrupted as she pushed Radiance away from a confused Sean.

"Yes and no." Radiance stared annoyingly at Ingwer. "The poppies were part of the ingredients of the sleeping curse Maleficent used on Sleeping Beauty, but while my aunt _gave_ poppies to the Wicked Witch of the West, Maleficent's poppies were stolen and yet she claimed they were given to her."

"Supèr," Proserpine said sarcastically. "Wè gèt à hìstòry lèssòn rìght upòn òur àrrìvàl."

"Speaking of which, what _does_ bring you here in the Everfree Sector? Judging by the fact that my home isn't exactly in the area of your city, I can tell you had to go through the Infinite Forest of Evil."

So while taking turns, they told Radiance Nightmare everything from the attacks on the teenager descendants at the Isle of The Lost to the part where they jumped into the abyss after their confrontation with Penna De Mort and her goons.

"It's rather odd what you're telling me," Radiance said once they were done. "The Villainous Council suspects Nightmare Moon to be responsible for such actions and right around the time they started, my cousin Artemis went rogue..."

"Wait...Artemis Nightmare's gone rogue?" Sean frowned.

 _Meanwhile_

Waking up painfully has taught Ruby one thing: NEVER attempt to touch a star that isn't yours.

She sat up and rubbed her forehead until she noticed that she wasn't wearing her normal uniform and bag. Instead, she was wearing some sort of short puff sleeved traditional Asian shirt with night sky and crescent silk and cat paw print designs on the sleeves' edges, a purple belt with a blue cat shaped clasp, a blue shaded star themed mini skirt, dark blue fishnet leggings, and dark blue wedge sandals with golden crescent moons on the ankles. Her backpack had been replaced with a lavender lunar purse and her gloves with purple fingerless gloves that exposed her adamantium nails and the ring Martin gave her.

A golden orb was lying on the ground next to her. Curiosity kills the cat, so she picked it up and looked at it to see that her hair (surprisingly, she got a blue streak) was tied up in a ponytail while some strands were sided just above her right eye, and Ruby also got a nose ring and piercings on her eyebrows and ears.

Her blue lipstick covered mouth grinned a bit: surprisingly, the new outfit she just got made her feel comfortable and just like the old Ruby Kyle she once was. The Ruby who had just arrived on the Isle of the Lost months ago, just one basic average villainous kid who had no idea of how her life would change.

But where were the others?

"I'd better get a move on," Ruby said to herself. She got up fully (while the orb was still in her hands) and began to walk forward until she noticed at the last minute that she was tripping onto a cliff. A crystalling river could be seen at the bottom. If Ruby continued falling and screaming while her hands were still clutching the orb, she'd be meeting her death.

But she was stopped by a cloud of flying bats that acted like a cushion while lifting her back up the cliff. Ruby was rather stunned on how none of the little flying creatures seemed to get their wings hurt or damaged from lifting her up and that she couldn't even feel them on her but.

They let Ruby gently slide down from them, leaving her to watch them fly into the dark blue horizon...

Wait a minute. She wasn't aboveground but in what seemed to be an underground world fenced by stalactites and stalagmites made of actual crystals. Up in the distance, there were colorful people moving by air or ground, working by their wonderful cave homes, playing in rich green grass, flying in the dark blue underground sky while bringing floating glowing orbs just like the one she was holding towards the masterpiece of this mysterious wonderland: a giant magnolia tree tall and large enough to act as a support beam for the ceiling. At the trees roots grew so many colorful plants that Ruby had to squint to make sure she wasn't dreaming. The tree's branches spread high and around in graceful twists full of midnight blue petals while a large cyan waterfall was welcoming the given floating orbs, turning the waterfall into a rainbow shower and making the fabulous garden sparkle like precious gems.

"It's gotta be just a dream," Ruby muttered in awe.

"A reality dream, you mean."

Ruby turned to see a large oak tree that she hadn't noticed before. At the first branch closest to her was a being hanging from it upside down like a bat, a humanoid bat with cream yellow skin, hot pink hair tied up in a punk ponytail, and a pink-and-white gothic outfit. The most stunning parts of him were his arm-length bat wings and blood red eyes that sort of made Ruby uncomfortable.

"You know, a normal vampire pony like me would find it very surprising to find a human in a place like this with a Memorb in her hands." He spoke in a Romanian accent as he did a gymnastic flip and sat properly on the branch.

"Wait, _this_ is a Memorb?" Ruby looked into the orb she was holding. "Wait, _who's_ Memorb am I holding?"

"Memorbs are rather foggy on the inside. That's why they need to be polished." He made a hand gesture that suggested she tried rubbing the orb, which she did with the back of her gloved hand. The orb glowed with a bright yellow light and a blurry, but obvious image of two figurines dancing in a large ballroom with music in the air. As the image got clearer, the dancing figurines revealed themselves as a tall beast and a woman in a golden gown.

"Is that...the former monarchs Queen Belle and King Adam?" Ruby asked. The boy jumped off the branch and had a closer look at the orb's display.

"Well, I'd say you hit the jackpot," he commented as she willingly handed him the orb. "Not many people know that Memorbs are actually preserved dreams and memories." He pointed at the large magnolia tree in the distance. "See that big tree over there? You see the waterfall behind it, where the Memorbs are being dropped off?"

"Yeah, I...I see it. It's...hard to miss," Ruby said sarcastically.

"I know, right." He returned the feeling. "Anyway, _that_ very tree is called the Dreamworld Tree. It connects the Everfree Sector to the Isle of The Lost via the Dreamworld, which is where Artemis Nightmare dreams hops constantly in order to visit people's minds while their unconsciousness reigns."

"Isn't that breaking privacy?" Ruby frowned.

"My friend Barbara asked a similar thing. Unfortunately, it's a gift Artemis got from his mother Nightmare Moon and he can't get rid of it. So back to the topic: whenever he visits dreams, nightmares and whatnot, he preserves them in Memorbs, to make sure they don't die out." He tapped a finger on the Memorb as it let out a ding.

"Like long term memory?"

"Yep! You're getting the hang of it!" He smirked before pointing at the tree's branches that kissed the underground sky and flying figurines grabbing orbs to bring them to the waterfall. "We then use the Memorbs to fuel the Dreamworld Tree by transferring them into the waterfall and its waters will nourish the tree, making it stronger and powerful enough to keep the connection between this territory and the rest of the Isle."

Ruby whistled impressively. "And what would happen overall if the tree wasn't there?"

"Well, the tree is also connected to the Night Chronosphere, the time managing machine of Artemis' father, Time himself. If even _one_ of them collapses, the other won't stand long. For instance, if the Dreamworld were to collapse, the barrier would be broken and even the Night Chronosphere wouldn't be able for even forty seconds to keep it up and prevent the Isle of the Lost and the Everfree Sector from crashing onto one another and create total night chaos...and maybe annihilate three quarters while we're at it."

"Yeah, why do you even need a barrier to separate the sector from the rest of the world?"

The boy chuckled nervously as he looked down at the orb and got a grin suggesting an idea. "You know what, it's time for a little educational field trip. Hold on!"

 _Meanwhile_

Radiance Nightmare gave her four new friends a ride on her personal horse drawn carriage à la New York style. As she led the carriage through the forest, they saw that the Everfree lived up to its name, with animals acting like people, plants moving their roots and changing their positions, and the moon even bigger than the sun itself.

"So, if I get this straight," Fork said, "when people said Nightmare Moon was locked up in the Isle of The Lost, what they actually meant was 'we locked her up in the moon _again_ but we made sure that her territory was connected to the Isle and its barrier via the Dreamworld, so if she attempts to escape again, the barriers altogether will just strengthen'."

"Correct," Radiance said.

"And your cousin managed to fax his homework to Dragon Hall because he uses his own ways to attend the classes," Ingwer joined in.

"Yep."

"Ànd yòu dòn't thìnk yòur àunt ìs bèhìnd thè àttàcks bàck ìn òur tòwn?" Proserpine asked.

"Indeed not." Radiance nodded her head. "Nightmare Moon may be evil, but stealing the marks of villainy of other villains, especially young ones, is beneath her."

"You make it sound like stuff like this has already happened," Ingwer commented. Radiance stopped the carriage and turned to face them. She carefully removed her right glove and showed her bare forearm at them, revealing the mark of villainy designed like her dress' diamond designs.

"An Equestrian cutie mark and a mark of villainy are not so different from one another," Radiance said as she put her glove back on and restarted the carriage. "Each of them represents an individual coming of age and harnessing special talents or powers. There have been three misfits, however, who have tried to use other people's marks of villainy to hoard infinite power."

Sean gulped as he held onto Biggie. "Infinite...power?"

"What some people fail to realize that, while a mark represents who you are, they also contain the evil essence in you that has been created from the amount of bad blood that you inherited, the natural evil you have in you, and your amount of fame as a feared villain. If somebody were crazy enough as to steal a large sum of marks of villainy, especially from descendants of powerful villains at a time like this when the Villains Comet is barely a few weeks away and end his or her collection with a godly mark of villainy...that somebody would become even more invincible and powerful than ten gods."

So that was why descendants were being attacked mercilessly back in the city and left with graydified marks of villainy: somebody was trying to get their marks' essences in order to become a super-powered being that would take over the world. Again.

"You said three people have tried it, Radiance," Fork said. "Who were they?"

"Well, the last two to have nearly done it were the Equestrian villains Tirek and Starlight Glimmer. Tirek made ponies' cutie marks disappear from their flanks when he sucked their magic and Starlight Glimmer literally removed cutie marks with her magic and replaced them with equal marks. None of them knew it of course, but if they knew what they could have done with all the essences they stripped unwittingly, they would have done the same thing the first one did..." Her voice trailed off.

"Radiance, who and what did he or she do?" Sean insisted.

The daughter of Nightmare Rarity gulped. "He...he destroyed everything and nearly Life itself. He used the powers of the Villains Comet to increase his hoarded power. He was...King Otreros of Otihieros."


	74. Artemis Nightmare (Re) Introduced

Chapter 74: Artemis Nightmare (Re) Introduced

As Flash Bat (so was the name of the vampire boy that Ruby met) flew and carried her across the cavern towards the Dreamworld Tree, the residents were getting into song while carrying Memorbs towards the waterfall and making their way towards the Tree.

Flash Bat: _He rules the breeze and the sky_

 _When the moon is high_

 _He travels through every dream_

 _On night or daydream_

A blue pegasus girl with blonde pigtails and gym clothes flew next to them as they dove into a shower of stars that amazed Ruby. The pegasus girl, who was later revealed to be Barbara Dust, joined in as well.

Barbara Dust: _In eternity he sees every star._

 _He knows where, when, and who we are._

Barbara & Flash: _He knows where, when, and who we are._

 _Where, when, and who we are._

They landed in front of the crowd at the gates surrounding the tree, so majestic. Flower petals floated into the air and into the sky as Flash and Barbara helped Ruby land on the ground.

Equestrian Crowd: _Aue, Aue_

 _Artemis Nightmare is here to help us find_

 _The truth and happiness found in our stars._

 _Aue, aue,_

 _We always keep his deeds in mind,_

 _And when we have to write memoirs,_

 _He'll show that he knows the way!_

 _Aue, aue,_

 _He's a dream-hopper who reads every astral sign_

 _So that we can tell our elders' stories in a never-ending chain._

 _Aue, aue_

 _All hail Artemis Nightmare._

 _He's the one who gave us this happiness we share._

 _For he knows the way!_

Everyone bent down of their knees and bowed at the front of the gothic, crescent and star designed iron gates that stood in front of them and separated them from the colorful garden growing from the bottom of the tree.

"Artemis Nightmare! Son of Nightmare Moon and Time!" Flash Bat announced. "Immortal guardian of the Everfree Sector! Godly collector and preserver of all dreams and memories! Eternal wandering dream-hopper of the Dreamworld! We come before you with a human from the Isle of the Lost!"

The Equestrian crowd gasped when they saw that Ruby was the one being referred to. She turned her head to look at all those eyes staring at her and almost got hurt when she saw some individuals backing away or protectively covering their little ones as if Ruby had come with a nametag labeled Plague.

The ground began to shake and light was seen vibrating through the tree like blood in vessels. Thundering was heard and a strange dark blue blast full of stars landed in front of the crowd as if trying to beat Maleficent's uninvited entrance at Aurora's christening. Once all the sparkling show was done, a dark coal skinned teenage boy in midnight blue armor stood in front of the crowd. His large sleeves moved and flapped like alicorn wings, his helmet had three horns, and his hair was...literally blue mist made out of stars and constellations that seemed to be moving. It's as if someone had decided to rip some of the night sky's fabric and stick it on the back of the guy's neck.

"You're Artemis Nightmare?" Ruby said in disbelief. To answer her, he just held out his right hand. A blast of lightning went right through it from the sky, nearly making everyone in the crowd back away until they saw a crescent scepter in his hand and they sighed in relief.

"Indeed," he said, his voice so mystical that it didn't fit any of the classic high school masculine behavioral stereotypes. "And _you_ touched one of my Memorbs."

"Excuse me?" Ruby frowned indignantly. "If you didn't want anybody to touch them, than maybe you shouldn't have them flying around in places where visitors can touch them! And that memory I touched belonged to someone else, not you!"

Gasps were heard. "Uh, kid? Maybe you shouldn't..." Barbara Dust tried to say as Ruby's hazel eyes challenged Artemis' icy blue ones in a staring contest. It seemed to be going on forever until Artemis Nightmare chuckled amusingly to Ruby's confusion.

"That's just art of what I do, Rebecca," he said back to his usual tone. "Not out of malice, nor out of greed. Just for records."

"Records?" Ruby frowned.

"Oy, here we go again," Flash Bat muttered and rolled his eyes. Pegasus people began to fly in synchronization in the air and grab colorful Memorbs while unicorn people used their magic to reflect lights from the orbs and brighten the unique world with diverse colors.

Artemis Nightmare: _So let me explain why I'm here._

 _I'm an unexpected bag of mysteries, you'd find it strange._

 _For one, I can travel the unreachable. How can it be?_

 _My travels are through history and stories of all ranges._

He swirled his staff in his hands as he paced around Ruby, who still frowned in confusion at his song ad grimaced when he flicked his hair at her nose.

Artemis: _Open your eyes, try a new way to begin._

 _Yes, I can see what you couldn't, so breathe it in._

 _It's quite a lot, but I' m no fraud._

 _I'm just a three-quarter godly demigod._

 _What can I say except you're welcome_

 _For the events I witnessed through your sleep._

 _Hey, it's okay, take it from me._

 _You're welcome._

 _I'm just exploring while you're counting sheep._

Equestrian Crowd: _Hey!_

The pegasus people dropped the Memorbs, creating a shower of glowing orbs that Artemis Nightmare managed to freeze in midair with his staff. Ruby was awed by the sight of so many Memorbs as Barbara Dust and Flash Bat escorted her through the new art gallery while following Artemis Nightmare through the crowd that made way for them.

Flash: _Who saw Zeus as he made Atlas lift the sky_

 _While Prometheus showed men how to use fire to fry?_

Artemis: _That would be me, this guy!_

Barbara: _When Aladdin beat Jafar with his wits,_

 _Who was still in his mother's wombs and got the news' transmits?_

Artemis: _I don't see any other guy!_

Flash: _Oh, he knew exactly what Joan of Arc imagined._

Artemis: _You're welcome._

Barbara: _When she led the French and became legend._

 _Or how Maui harnessed the breeze..._

Artemis: _You're welcome._

Flash and Barbara: _To fill Moana's sails and shake some trees._

Artemis: _So what can I say except you're welcome_

 _For the knowledge I gained over the ages._

 _There's no need for you to pay, it's okay,_

 _You're welcome!_

 _Ha! You can say I'm as foreshadowing as Three Mages!_

 _You're welcome!_

 _You're welcome!_

"Although, now that you mention it!" Artemis spun himself until his entire hair spun in a blue twister that surrounded the group in an infinite field of sentient constellations. Ruby was even more than amazed and got excited when she saw the animated constellations and stars moving and making forms of peoples in action as Artemis Nightmare related to them in his song while still swinging his staff as if he were in a Broadway musical.

Artemis: _Through centuries I've seen and now I explain every natural phenomenon._

 _I could tell you all about how Maleficent the dragon_

 _Got smacked by a prince or even her own kid Mal._

 _Or maybe how Moses made the Red Sea look like a canal._

 _Wanna hear about the Mane Six and the power of friendship?_

 _Or perhaps how Captain Hook sailed Neverland on his ship?_

 _Hear a lesson of a basic average girl named Kim_

 _Or how Penna De Mort turned a kingdom so grim?_

 _My body and soul contain so many stories_

 _Of so many heroic and evil categories!_

 _Heck, even the antiheroes are so epic_

 _That their tales have been written so terrific!_

Crowd: _Hey, hey, hey, hey, HOORAY!_

Artemis: _You get such info from me, so_

 _You're welcome (_ Crowd: _You're welcome!)_

 _For all the dream hopping I daily go._

 _You get a lot today, it's okay._

 _You're welcome (_ Crowd: _You're welcome!)_

 _Even for a Memorb I have no price to pay!_

 _Hey, if you want one, it has to be today!_

 _You're welcome (_ Crowd: _You're welcome!)_

 _Because for a wise knight I'm rather generous!_

 _So come closer, don't be afraid!_

 _You're welcome (_ Crowd: _You're welcome!)_

 _I'm not greedy or venereous!_

 _You're welcome (_ Crowd: _You're welcome!)_

"And thank you!"

Everyone in the cavern clapped loud and clear, Memorbs shined like flickering Christmas lights, and even Ruby found herself applauding as Artemis bowed politely to the public.

"This is probably the best musical I've ever dealt with so far ever since I went on this quest!" Ruby said as soon as she was left alone with Artemis, Flash, and Barbara and everyone else went to mind their own happy business.

"Speaking of quest," Artemis spoke back in his normal tone at Ruby. "I believe _you_ want a Memorb."

 _Meanwhile, at the front of a cliff covered in silver crystals and grass_

"I can't believe we came all the way here just to find out that the Council's only suspect isn't even responsible for the attacks!" Ingwer muttered as Radiance parked her coach by a grove of apple trees. "How are we going to break the news if we ever get back? 'Hi, we just got back from a near-Death experience and turns out that Nightmare Moon isn't the villain of the story?'"

"Thèn àgàìn, ìt wòuld hàvè bèèn tòò èàsy ìf thè màstèrmìnd wàs sò òbvìòus," Proserpine added.

"Not to mention that no one in the Everfree Sector could have been responsible." Radiance helped her friends get off. "Have you ever heard the story of how Otreros got defeated by his sons?"

"The twins Yaveske and Yves? Who hasn't?" Sean said. "They kicked his butt and after they brought harmony back to the world, they split up. Yaveske went with the Western Civilization and Yves with the Eastern. What of it?"

"Well it so happens that with the last bits of his powers left when his sons defeated him, Otreros had enough power to put a curse on them. A curse that was bound to come as the Villains Comet."

Her words were enough to make the group gulp. "What did...I mean, what will the curse do?" Fork asked.

"Otreros cursed his sons in a rather odd way," Radiance said as she sat on a nearby rock and stared at the lunar sky. "But long story short, darlings, is that a descendant of Yaveske will be bound to restart from where Otreros last finished and destroy everything in existence using the essence of marks of villainy and the dark magic enhancing powers of the Villains Comet combined. And the only way the descendant of Yaveske can be defeated is through a descendant of Yves."

"You call _that_ easy?" Sean snorted. "That's just as dumb as the story of Romulus killing Remus just for the heck of creating a city in his name."

"But why would Otreros make his curse target only on Yaveske's lineage to continue his legacy of evil?" Ingwer asked Radiance. "Why not Yves or even both?"

"Surprisingly, out of the two princes, Yaveske was by far the most arrogant and selfish of the two. If he didn't have any sense of honor or love for his brother Yves, Yaveske could have been a rather bad villain. And while we're at it, ancient records, DNA testing, and every other possible ways of research have confirmed that the grand majority of villains today are descendants of Yaveske. I'm quite positive that at least 90% of the villains on the Isle of The Lost could be from his bloodline. Any of them could be his descendants and the one responsible behind the attacks."

"Màrvèlòus," Proserpine muttered. "Ìf ìt turns òut, whòèvèr wànts to dèstròy èvèrythìng ìs stìll ìn tòwn."

"What about Yves? Any possibility that he might have had any evil or not descendants that could save the world?" Ingwer suggested.

"I wouldn't be surprised if Mal has to be the savior after turning her mom into a gecko," Sean joked. Nobody laughed with him.

"Sadly, no." Radiance shook her head. "Yves might have had _some_ of his family traits, but with evil blood mixed with so many generations of good to the point where the good half manages to erase the evil past, it gets harder to track. My cousin Artemis and I, like our mothers, have tried to find any descendant of Yves via dreams with no luck. Either Yves was crazily prepared and managed to camouflage his family for millenniums...or he didn't want any of his descendants to beat his brother's."

"So we're all screwed," Fork concluded.

"Yep."

"Gee, and now you wonder why villains don't like mixed breeds."

"Look, let's first worry about getting Ruby from Artemis and then we all get back home." Ingwer looked at the cliff. "So, why are we here?"

"Because, as bright as my cousin's career is," Radiance said as she got up and walked towards the cliff, where she traced a moon on the crystals with her fingers and caused a circular tunnel to open itself, "he prefers underground presentation."

"Wèll, às lòng às wè dòn't hàvè mòlès, Ì'm ÒK wìth ìt." Proserpine shrugged as they walked down the tunnel.

 _Meanwhile, in the garden at the Dreamworld Tree_

"This is the Locus Amoenus Terra," Artemis said. He pushed the gates open and let Ruby go in first into the marvelous garden that grew by the roots of the towering Dreamworld Tree. What a garden it was! Never in her life had Ruby had seen so many hedges, crops, groves, and floral rows full of nothing but endless amounts of unique, colorful, and diverse flowers, plants, and trees. I was like Mother Earth squeezed her infinite garden into one small little hole.

"It's beautiful..." Ruby sighed.

"We call it LATE for short," Barbara Dust snorted. Flash Bat joined her in the snickering.

"Yes, and while we're at it, I realized that you didn't finish your Memorb carrying chores," Artemis responded drily. "Or maybe I should add polishing while we're at it?"

Flash and Barbara groaned and flew off. Ruby was surprised on how Artemis reacted much better than Penna De Mort towards minions or devotees. He kept his demeanor cool and threw no tantrums.

"I apologize for their behavior," Artemis said sincerely as he pushed the gate to a close. "But they get most of their feisty spirits from their mothers, Flutterbat and Lightning Dust. Anyway, let's get on with it." He led Ruby through the L. . "This garden is rather special. Not only does it share the waters from the waterfall with the Dreamworld Tree," he pointed at the small mouse-sized creeks that flowed water to each plant like the circulatory system, "but each plant in here symbolizes an individual and his or her evolution."

"You mean I'm walking in an green library of records?" Ruby asked

"Sort of. Here, I'll show you some examples." He showed her a bunch of plants as they walked. "The red rose and the angrec over here? That's for Belle and the Beast, with the red rose for true love and the angrec for royalty. That laurel tree next to them is for their son Ben, whose ambition to give evil descendants a chance for a better life became successful. So many lovers have ylang-ylang flowers intertwining with others..."

"What the heck is this one?"

Ruby pointed at a rather sad plant that was isolating itself from the others in a circle of bare, dry grey earth with no grass and not much water through the creeks. It was rather odd for a plant, because it looked like it was split in half. One half looked like a grey asphodel with thorns that looked a lot like dead cypress branches, and the other half looked like a withering snowdrop planted many inches away from the ghastly asphodel.

Artemis looked grimly at the plant. "I'm afraid that this is Penna De Mort's plant...Or plants, in this case. Believe me, I know as much as you do that her good and bad were torn apart, and as much as I loathe De Mort, I feel pity towards both of them. You can tell by the asphodel that the bad side is over-consuming and usurping like a parasite while the snowdrop is withering and losing its hope."

"Oh." Ruby looked once more at the tragic plant, especially the dying snowdrop. Just seeing such a plant dying reminded her of her meeting with Penelope Svjetla Marvolo Riddle and how the dying flower she was seeing before her reflected the emotionally crippled girl she had met wandering in an endless bare land of mirrors and stars.

"When my friends and I were in Riddle's Graveyard Post, I ended up seeing Penna De Mort's good half instead of facing my fears," Ruby told Artemis. "She said that the only way they could ever be cured of their misery would be for them to fuse again and have some guy truly love them for the person they make. Now that I'm seeing her...their plants, I feel rather off. I really don't like Penna De Mort especially after I found out that she had my mom murdered and hates me out of jealousy, but I can't help but feel bad that she and Penelope have such cursed fates."

"And now you don't know how to resolve your conscience on the matter," Artemis said in an understanding tone as they walked away from Penna's plant and further in the garden. "I'm afraid that for situations like this where I'd want to give you an answer, I can't. My powers of knowledge through dreams, nightmares, and memories are grand but not infinite."

"Nobody's perfect," Ruby agreed. "I bet you've done mistakes too."

He nodded silently as they stopped in front of a unique tree. It was a cherry blossom tree with petals as blue as the midnight sky that hovered above the cave and smooth, light brown bark. Interestingly, the tree was shaped to resemble a teenage girl with Asian features. If Ruby were just another mere tourist, she would have assumed that the tree was just some sort of Oriental dryad. Instead, she was watching Artemis Nightmare caress the tree's trunk while his icy blue eyes were staring at the wooden sculpture's vague eyes and shedding diamond white tears.

"During one of my numerous excursions in the Dreamworld through other's dreams, I stopped by the dream of a girl in Auradon while she was still sleeping. Usually I am invisible to the owners of the dreams I visit, but for some reason she could see me, hear me, and feel me when I approached her out of curiosity," he said. "And what do you think happened to me? Like all other immortals or gods, I got fascinated with her. I couldn't stop thinking about her. I rushed through every dream I ever visited in the Dreamworld in order to see her. I fell in love with her."

"She rejected you?" Ruby asked as she got closer to the cherry blossom tree and looked a little bit more at the face that Artemis was looking at with a heartbroken face. Why did the tree's face look so familiar?

"No, she reciprocated my feelings to the point where we consummated the last time I saw her in the Dreamworld somewhere after Halloween. But then I got terrified."

"Terrified? Of her?"

"GREAT SUPER MOON, NO!" Artemis exclaimed furiously that his voice's level freaked out Ruby and nearly made her fall on the grass. "I loved her more than my own immortality and my duty to the people of the Everfree Sector! No, I was afraid that some foe of mine, especially..."

"No, wait," Ruby cut him off as she got up and dusted herself off. "Is this one of those 'I stopped seeing her because I was afraid that some enemy of mine could perhaps harm her in order to get to me because my love for her has literally become my weakness?' Because I've heard _plenty_ of those in my life."

"And that isn't even the most bastard thing he's ever done!" Two boys popped out of a nearby hedge of daffodils. One of them was a redheaded skunk stripped boy with a golden tan, blue-and-white farming clothes, and a scythe in hand. He looked like he was around seventeen. The last one was a completely dark pink four-year-old with balloon themed toddler clothes who rushed towards Artemis.

"Hey, Pinkamenus!" Artemis knelt down to grab the giggling kid and carry him in his arms like a big brother. "How are you, you little rascal? By the way, Rebecca, this here in my arms is Pinkamenus, the son of Pinkamena Diane Pie, and that's Fletcher Flim, the son of Flim from the Flim Flam Brothers."

"Hi." Flim said casually to Ruby as if he didn't care about formal greetings. "So, Artie..."

"Don't call me Artie," Artemis said coldly.

"Right. Anyway, did Artie also tell you how he 'broke up' with his dream girl?" Fletcher asked Ruby.

"I did it to save her," Artemis muttered.

"Oh, because you lying to her and pretending you can't see her because you have to lead a rebellion against your mom while there isn't even a revolution here is your solution?" Fletcher scowled. "Because you can't just tell her 'I can't see you for now. I got my foe who might be on my tail, so I'm breaking up with you for now before she uses you against me'? Either you know nothing about courting even after all the dream hopping or you're just downright pathetic."

Artemis frowned at Fletcher. His grip on Pinkamenus seemed to injure the little boy.

"Hey, uh, I don't know if it's a bad time, but can we get back to the Memorb situation?" Ruby asked politely.

Artemis nodded and shot one more dirty look at Fletcher. He put Pinkamenus back on the ground and used his staff to point at a nearby plant. "Here's yours, Rebecca."

The way he sounded so snappy was unnerving, so Ruby didn't protest and walked towards her plant. Her hazel eyes widened and she knelt down to have a better look at the mid blooming blue chrysanthemum that was growing healthily. Warmth flowed through Ruby as her fingers gently caressed the petals.

"As you grew up strong, brave, and caring, Rebecca, so did this flower." With the tip of his crescent scepter, he traced a line on the soil from which Ruby's flower was planted. The ground opened from the line, and once they took a peak, they saw so many roots carrying so many marble sized marbles that glowed brighter as they were closer to the surface.

"So shiny!" Pinkamenus said in awe.

"The youngest, meaning most current, Memorbs would be found closest to the surface," Artemis explained. "The oldest ones, obviously, are closest to the origins of the roots. So is there a memory you wanted to see in particular?"

Ruby's mind drifted to that vision she had after the attack of the Scyphozoa. The vision of her, a week old baby, being in a nursery with...

"I want to see the Memorb that holds any memory that I had of my dad when I was a week old," Ruby answered. "I would like to, for once, know the identity of the father I never knew."

Artemis stared at her. "Are you sure you want this, Rebecca?"

"Yes." She didn't back down.

"You gotta be careful, kid," Fletcher warned. "Not everybody likes what they see when they get to look at one of their oldest orbs. Heck, sometimes it can scar them to life!"

"I already have a lot of scars! My mom is dead and if it turns out, my dad is probably still out there. I want to know who he is and why _my_ family of all the ones in the universe was ripped apart. That way...I can finally understand who I am."

"Well, here goes nothing!" Artemis plunged his two hands cautiously into the crevice, and couple minutes later, he was holding a little marble shining in a bright purple lilac color. The size of it was almost similar to the one of the pearl Ruby had kept wit her since childhood.

She reached to rub the pearl, but once her index finger did so, nothing happened.

"Yeah, about that," Artemis just added. "The older a memory gets once it becomes part of its owner's plant, the harder it is to get a visual of the memory. The best way to get a good Memorb polish is to rejuvenate it via my father's Night Chronosphere...which is back in my mother's castle."


	75. Past and Blood Revealed

Chapter 75: Past and Blood Revealed

Radiance had led her four new friends through the cavern in which Artemis Nightmare guarded the barrier between the Isle of the Lost and the Everfree Sector. As amazed as the four new teens were towards the sight (especially the Dreamworld Tree), the local residents were just as amazed at the sight of more visitors.

"You'll have to excuse them for their curiosity, darling," Radiance said while winking at Sean, who was beginning to see why she was making him so uncomfortable with her flirting. "You and your friends are actually the first non-Equestrian villainous descendants to have come here. The last visitor was the son of that siren Adagio Dazzle."

"Sirenius? Yeah, he's a friend of mine," Sean said. "He's the one who gave us a map and a moonstone that Artemis gave to him when he first came here."

"Yeah, the guy didn't talk very much." They approached the gates of the Locus Amoenus Terra, where they found Flash Bat and Barbara Dust sitting in front of the garden's gates. "Last time he came here, it was just to spend endless hours meditating under that tree with Artemis teaching him how to balance his emotions with his body." Barbara pointed at the Dreamworld Tree as it dominated them. "Then he gets the idea light bulb and we get his Memorb showing us how he got his mark of villainy with 'goodie' music."

"New friends, these are Barbara Dust and Flash Bat, the daughter of Lightning Dust and the son of Flutterbat. Barbara and Flash, these are..."

"Yeah, yeah, we know," Flash brushed away Radiance's sentence with a bored attitude. "VKs from the main Isle on a quest here because their leaders assumed that your aunt was responsible for the attacks. Moon to Radiance, we got Memorbs to use as daily news reporting about the attacks increasing."

"They still haven't stopped?" Ingwer exclaimed. "I mean, come on! I'm not trying to be biased, but why is it only the teen descendants who are getting attacked? I mean, there are villains back home who have kids below thirteen or above twenty!"

"To make the essence mixture fresher and sweeter," Barbara grimaced. "According to ancient tales, once you gathered to many young essences coming from marks of villainy belonging to maturing villains, it turns into a black liquid that can fill an entire pool in which you have to take a boiling bath from."

"Hòw bàd ìs ìt?" Proserpine dared to ask.

"It would be like fully bathing in the Tarrian River, only once you come out, you're like a raging entity full of power and darkness obsessed with destroying all life, remodeling the universe in your image, _enslave all that oppose you, and then_ **RULE ABOVE ALL CHAOS, COSMOS, AND EXISTENCE WHILE YOU'RE THROWING THE MOST THUNDERING EVIL LAUGHTER OF THE UTTER MOST SADISTIC MADNESS AND SITTING ON YOUR TOWERING THRONE AS THE ULTIMATE BEING! HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA...** " The cavern's sky boomed with lightning and thunder in order to exaggerate with Radiance's dramatic description of the end of the world while the others stared at her speechlessly.

"Gee, maybe you should replace me in the job of storytelling, cousin," Artemis said sarcastically as he came through the open gates with Fletcher, Pinkamenus, and Ruby.

"Ruby, thank goodness!" Ingwer rushed to give the human girl a bear hug, an act repeated by the rest of the quintet until Ruby pulled herself away from possible suffocation.

"Listen, Rubes, our mission was a complete failure," Fork said bluntly. "Aside from Nightmare Moon not being the kind of villain who wants to attack VKs for their marks of villainy, the real culprit is still out there continuing the attacks so that he can harvest enough essences to use for world domination."

"Then again, you gotta admit that this evil plot sounds a lot more original than Maleficent's idea of invading Auradon with the magic wand," Sean added. His annoying comment resulted with unamused glances from everyone, asking him to quit it.

"Sò nòw wè hàvè tò gò àll thè wày bàck ìn òrdèr tò brèàk thè nèws...ànd còwèr àt òur pòssìblè fàtès," Proserpine concluded for them.

"Oh!" Ruby said. "OK, I get your point, but I have to go with Artemis back to his mom's house first before we go back."

"Wait, what?" her friends, Radiance, Barbara, and Flash exclaimed in shock. Even Biggie looked shocked as she traveled on Sean's shoulder.

That's when Radiance noticed the Memorb that Ruby was holding in her hands.

"ARTEMIS!" the daughter of Nightmare Rarity exclaimed at the son of Nightmare Moon. "You let her have a Memorb?"

"She wanted to see an old memory and I gave it to her," Artemis said firmly. "The opposite would be me hoarding it, but that's not my job other than guarding the barrier now, is it?"

"So he lets Ruby peek into her past for her own personal reasons and then she moves on." Sean shrugged. "What's the whoop?"

"The whoop, actually _whoops_ , darling, is that not only do you have to freshen up an old Memorb using Artemis' father's Night Chronosphere -which my uncle Time is not very fond of sharing unless you want to mess with the balance of time- back in my aunt's castle, but a Memorb can literally _crush you emotionally for more than a week until you eventually start losing the desire to live_!" Radiance leaned enough for Sean to creep down from her as he cringed at her drama.

"Guys, I know I'm asking a lot," Ruby pleaded, "but I need to know something that I should have probably known years ago. But I can't do that without bringing this to the Night Chronosphere." She raised her purple Memorb in her hands. "Just one trip to Nightmare Moon's and then we can all go back to the city and maybe figure out some sort of solution for..."

"Whàt, thè àttàcks? Fàcè ìt Ruby, thìs trìp wàs fòr nòthìng!" Proserpine snapped. "Wè'rè just gòìng tò ènd up gòìng bàck àftèr ànòthèr mònth lòng òdyssèè ànd thèn..."

Artemis Nightmare snapped his fingers.

"... _We_ are going to end up being the next ones to lose our marks!" Proserpine gasped and covered her mouth in shock while the rest gasped.

"Pro, what the heck? You sound like a sassy black woman!" Sean exclaimed. The demigoddess glared at him. "Well, not that you weren't one already..." She glared at him even harder. "You know what? I'm just gonna shut up."

"You ripped off her accent, didn't you, Misty Hair?" Barbara smirked at Artemis.

"First off, don't call me Misty Hair." He listed with his fingers. "Second, her Creole accent was giving me a migraine..."

"At least you're sparing the author from adding all those accents on the vowels to emphasize her accent!" Pinkamenus piped in a high voice.

"Uh?" the main quintet frowned in confusion.

"You'll have to excuse Pinkie here," Fletcher said in an apologizing tone while Pinkamenus went to hug Artemis' left leg. "He's like his mom: he can't help himself from breaking the fourth wall."

"So is the little rascal," Artemis chuckled as he picked up the little pink toddler in his arms after the latter was begging so. Ingwer grinned to herself at the sight of Pinkamenus playing with the horns on Artemis' helmet as the latter remained stoic in position yet affectionate towards Pinkamenus.

"And third," Artemis went back to the topic, "is that I do not influence people when it comes to gaining Memorbs." He waved a hand to indicate Ruby. "It was Rebecca's own free decision. _She_ decided she wants to recover her past on her own, _she_ accepted that she would deal with the faced consequences, and _she_ her own person so _she_ is the one deciding if she wants to risk her life by going to my mother's castle."

Ruby smiled gratefully.

"Why can't you just say what she wants to hear since you know almost everything about everyone?" Sean asked skeptically.

Artemis put down Pinkamenus gently on the ground and leaned on the crescent of his scepter. "Honestly? When it comes to one's own self-discovery, I like to mind my own business and back off."

"Your Dream Girl has totally warped your min-DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Flash Bat's rude remark led to Artemis blasting a jet of stars from his scepter, leading to Flash being thrown away and crash-landing onto a wagon full of diamonds just fifteen feet away from them.

"What were you saying? You didn't finish your sentence!" Artemis called out before snickering. His action actually amused the visiting descendants.

"I think I might actually forgive him for ruining my accent," Proserpine giggled. "If we could take him with us, we'd definetly have to take him to Dragon Hall if they ever reopen."

"So, are we good to go?" Ruby asked hopefully. She looked at her four friends as they made some nods between one another.

"Technically, we had to see Nightmare Moon anyway," Sean shrugged. He fist-bumped Ruby on the arm. "I'm in."

"After everything we dealt with and nearly died from, I don't think it can get any worse." Fork joined in. "Count me as well."

"We did agree that we'd follow Shadow Seeker to the jaws of death!" Ingwer joked.

"Don't even start to jest!" Proserpine scolded teasingly.

"They grow up so fast." Pinkamenus said creepily as he appeared out of nowhere and sat piggyback style on Artemis' shoulders. The quintet chuckled nervously at the pink boy that was getting creepier by the second.

"And just _how_ are we going to sneak them into Time's time tower without anybody capturing them in the castle?" Radiance asked skeptically.

"Gee, and I thought you'd have another paramour to help us get in," Artemis said. The tone of his voice indicated that he knew what he was doing, a fact that got confirmed when Radiance instantly hugged Sean's arm and began to give him even flirtier looks.

"I'm not gonna like this, am I?" he asked, freaked out.

 _Later, at the Castle Of The Two Sisters_

The Castle Of The Two Sisters, along with the entire town that formed the sole city and capital of the entire Everfree Sector, looked exactly like the alternate universe ruled by Nightmare Moon when the Equestrian princess had to deal with Starlight Glimmer messing with a time traveling spell. A dark blue city made of stones, statues, roads, and tiles of a rich dark blue and starry material that almost made the city blend into the endless night sky. Even if you were sitting on a cliff just outside of the city, you could just the statue of Nightmare Moon in her alicorn form standing on a crescent moon as if it were a surfboard on top of the castle's highest tower, Time's time tower. The tower they had to go to in order to freshen up Ruby's Memorb and help her recover her old memory.

So far the plan seemed simple: the eleven teenagers (composed of the quintet and their new pony friends) would split up into two teams, the distracting and sneaking teams. The distracting team (which consisted of Sean, Ingwer, Proserpine, Fork, Fletcher, Flash, and Radiance) would go to the front gates of the castle and fool the guards to let them in for 'an audience' with Nightmare Moon and Nightmare Rarity to introduce Radiance's 'new boyfriend' and 'hopefully future husband', Sean Abyss. The sneaking team (Ruby, Artemis, Barbara, and Pinkamenus) would take the opportunity to sneak into the castle via the servants' entrance at the back, which was interestingly the closest and fastest way to the time tower.

"I'm starting to think that theme obsession wins a first prize here," Fork commented as they tailed the pony teens, who were following the guards, through a series of dark halls with starry luminous ceilings that were being held up with cyan blue pillars. Almost every decoration involved something that was either moon related or based on the queen's own ego, ranging from the smallest flower pot to the biggest statue in the indoor garden.

"Just watch your mouth when we're in the queen's presence," Flash warned them. "Nightmare Moon is as proud as she is evil and powerful, so be careful what you say to her."

Finally, the guards opened the big doors that led to the throneroom, a room that would have been able to fit the Statue of Liberty if you had placed it both upright or lying down. The floor was designed to look like an ancient astronomical clock while the rest of the room looked like a living map of the night sky with every single layout of every constellation, stellar, and planetary positions. It was as if they had an actual clock and calendar floating above their heads.

"I think I understand now why Artemis' mom would end up with Time," Sean whispered to Ingwer.

"God, I hope..."

" _My niece!_ "

They looked ahead of them, on the other side of the room, and found four thrones shaped and designed to resemble the full moon pulling up the tide. Only two thrones, the biggest, were filled, each of them hosting a woman...

The visitors from the Isle of the Lost stared in disbelief at what they never imagined to be Nightmare Moon: a seven foot Titan sized woman dressed in a blue metal high neck bikini with a sparkling loincloth draped over her bare legs wearing blue high heeled sandal, a silky cape that looked like alicorn wings, and an assortment of lunar-themed jewelry that went from her crown to her arm bracelets, rings, and Amazonian belt. Her skin was more of a dark brown tan than a coal black, but her misty hair and icy blue eyes were exactly like her son's.

" _That's_ Nightmare Moon?" Fork said all baffled up. "I could have sworn that this was Jennifer Lucifer in her 'Dance To Death Again' video!"

"Snap out of it!" Fletcher hissed.

"Auntie Moon," Radiance Moon bowed to Nightmare Moon. She then looked to the next occupied throne and the woman, who looked exactly like a thirty-year-old version of Radiance Nightmare only in one of those 1920s party dresses that women used to wear. "Mom!"

" _My baby eclipse_!" Nightmare Rarity smiled as she got off her throne and immediately went on to hug her daughter. " _How was your nature ride on your coach_?" She looked at Fletcher and Flash. " _I see you brought common folks_ ," she grimaced.

"Lady Rarity," Flash and Fletcher replied stiffly by bowing to the lunar unicorn.

" _And I see you brought...visitors from the outside_ ," Nightmare Rarity raised an eyebrow of curiosity at the quartet in question.

" _Visitors? From the outside?_ " Nightmare Moon questioned, raising her tone as she got up from her throne. The quartet cringed when they realized that Nightmare Moon was almost much taller than her Titan height while sitting made it appear. Her height nearly hit the ceiling _literally_ with just the tip of her crown. " _Rarity, you know how I feel about outsiders, especially after all the ones by son has let in!_ "

" _That's your son's problem, not my daughter's!_ " snapped Nightmare Rarity. " _Maybe you shouldn't have him tasked to guard the barrier if you so badly want nobody to come in or out!_ "

"In our defense, we came here for a good reason other than disturbing you, oh grand queen of the moon!" Proserpine said as she stepped forward and kneeled before Nightmare Moon. "You see, we came all the way here because..."

" _You can cut the act, daughter of Hades_ ," Nightmare Moon said coldly. " _I know why you really came here. The Villainous Council suspects me on stealing the marks of villainy of numerous teenager villainous descendants as the Villains' Comet approaches. Do you honestly see me as some sort of gullible foal?_ "

"Oh." Proserpine gulped nervously.

" _If you weren't a priestess to the gods and so polite to those who are immortally superior to you, I'd have blasted you into an earth pony meant to plough my lunar crops for even insinuating that I would do such a thing. Taking over the Equestrian world? I would do such a thing. Using shadows to trick you against your own elements in order to swat you away from my obstacle list? Yes as well. But to even_ _ **think**_ _that I would gather the essences of universally powerful villains' lineage in order to obtain immense power that grants the power to destroy the current existence of life and reshape everything in your own image? I am a GODDESS, for crying out loud! If I wanted to destroy everything, which I don't, I'd do it with my bare hooves!_ "

"Well, can't blame us mortals for making wrong guesses right?" Sean chuckled nervously. "After all, we're all pretty dumb." Ingwer, Fork, and Proserpine looked at him with insulted shock.

" _For once, you children have said something smart since you first put your feet here_."

Sean frowned at the insulted while Flash gave him a look that said 'She got you there!'

"We apologize for bothering you, Your Majesty." Ingwer bowed to Nightmare Moon. "We thought we were helping our people..."

" _And return back home like some evil heroes? What do you have to be praised for? Even as were speaking, just about all the descendants in the Isle of the Lost have been attacked and deprived of their marks' essences. By the time you return, you'll discover that only twenty-two of you haven't been attacked just yet, and by thirty-one, I'm talking about you four, seven of your friends back in Auradon, ten from the city...and my own son._ "

The attacks never stopped. Now only 22 targets were left.

"Artemis...he's going to be targeted last because of his godly mark of villainy, isn't he?" Fork asked.

" _My son is not only born from me, one of the most ancient deities to have existed longer than the gods worshipped in your world, but also from the entity Time, who gave Kronos the ironic name. As the most powerful young god in the Everfree Sector and even on the Isle, my son is connected to the powers of time and space as well as every essence of every individual living in my kingdom. If whoever the mysterious villain stealing marks takes Artemis' after he has taken all the others, he or she will be able to tip the balance of time and space and completely bend the rules of reality."_

"So we're doomed and we can't do anything?" Fork said matter-of-factly.

" _Pretty much_."

"So what now? We just throw a big party to celebrate the end of the world and throw speeches of how nice it was knowing you?" Fletcher asked.

"Nah, we already did that back in 2012." Sean shook his head. "Tzira Khan failed to convince everyone to do a human sacrifice in the Cruella-teria after her dad told her that a human sacrifice would spare us all from the Mayan calendar prediction that we'd all die."

" _Wait._ " Nightmare Rarity glanced at the quartet. " _Where's the human? The girl who was accompanying you?_ "

They sweated in panic when they noticed Nightmare Moon scowling at her sister. " _Rarity, don't be ridiculous. I know the Villainous Council is getting desperate even though the comet is approaching, but for them to set these magic-bred progenies with a human? They'd have to be pathetic!_ "

"Don't you dare underestimate or even _consider_ harming Ruby!" Ingwer snapped.

Before the goddess could say anything, the ceiling began to shake, and the floating map's constellations began to shift in such a frenzy.

"What's going on?" Radiance exclaimed.

" **INTRUDERS IN THE TIME TOWER!** " a booming voice bellowed from above. " **ARTEMIS IS IN THE TOWER WITH HIS CRONIES AND A HUMAN WITH A MEMORB! THEY'RE HEADING FOR THE NIGHT CHRONOSPHERE!** "

 _Up in the Time Tower_

Going up to the Time Tower via the unused stairs was child's play, but if there's two things that Ruby wished she had strangled Artemis for, it was that A, he never mentioned that the Time Tower as an insane fantastical clock system made on nonstop spinning gears, swinging pendulums, restless clock hands, and other stuff expected in a clock, and B, his father Time was actually made of this _entire_ mad clockwork system.

"There's the Night Chronosphere," Artemis said as he pointed at a round platform floating in the middle of a set of spinning clock hands and a four swinging pendulums that acted as a fortress. "Just go there and place the Memorb at the central dent on the floor. Then, your memory will return to you."

"Good, because I want to live long enough to meet your girlfriend back in Auradon and tell her to smack you for all of this!" Ruby muttered. She put the Memorb in her purse and looked at the obstacles before gulping: "Uh, quick question? How am I supposed to get there?"

"Just make your way through the gears, ditch the pendulums, and run on the first clock hand that comes to you in order to get to the Night Chronosphere," Pinkamenus said. "Easy peasy."

"Right," Ruby replied.

" **YOU FOOLS! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT CAN HAPPEN IF YOU PUT A MEMORB IN THE CHRONOSPHERE!** " Time's voice boomed and echoed throughout the insane clocktower.

"Go! We'll deal with Artemis' old man!" Barbara urged Ruby. The girl nodded. She stared at the obstacles ahead of her while the others dealt with the entity of time throwing them robotic reincarnation of minutes.

"OK, Ruby," she muttered to herself. "Just tell yourself that you're running on a water drain from Gotham..."

She ran for it and began to run and hop on the gears as they spun vertically and horizontally while threatening anyone standing on them to fall into a seemingly endless pit.

Something appeared from where she left the ponies: a platform with her other friends, several guards, and two goddesses, one of them being an enraged Nightmare Moon.

" _ARTEMIS NIGHTMARE! HOW DARE YOU GIVE A HUMAN A MEMORB AND LET HER USE YOUR FATHER'S CREATION WITHOUT NOTIFYING US?_ " Nightmare Moon berated her son.

"It was her choice!" Artemis protested.

Ruby was reaching the last gear. Now all she had to do is deal with the pendulums...

" **HUMAN NEAR MY NIGHT CHRONOSPHERE**!" Time bellowed.

Ruby managed to jump on an approaching pendulum and found herself swinging, waiting for the perfect moment to land on one of the clock arms that would lead her to the platform.

"Your Majesty! The human is almost on the verge of reaching the Night Chronosphere!" One of the guards spotted Ruby.

" _Don't just stand there, you foals! Stop her!_ "

Ruby jumped and managed to grab hold of one of the spinning hands, pulling herself up in order to avoid falling to her death.

"Ruby, watch out!" Proserpine exclaimed. Her warning got the brunette's attention and the latter jumped as she ran in order to avoid getting hit by the thrown spears of the pegasi guards.

" _Child, please! Back away from the dent for your own good!_ " Nightmare Rarity pleaded.

" **NEVER! I WENT TOO FAR TO LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT MYSELF!** "

None of the guards or the teens or the gods could do anything as Ruby pulled out her Memorb and successfully placed it in the dent. Strings of light began to glow on the floor and a purple bonfire erupted from the Memorb like a volcano, making the entire tower shake.

" **WHAT IS HAPPENING? SOMETHING ABOUT HER ACTION IS MAKING TIME GO MAD!** "

"Ruby?" Barbara called out, but Ruby wasn't listening. All she could see now was the memory she desired to understand.

" _How's my little bundle of joy?_ " An image appeared in the Memorb's bonfire, reflecting the vision of infant Ruby with her mysterious father.

"Is that...Ruby's dad?" Ingwer gasped. "That's what Ruby wanted to know? Who her dad was?"

"Who her dad _is_ ," Artemis Nightmare corrected.

" _It's alright, sweetie. Mommy's still resting from her time at the hospital._ " Just like in the vision, baby infant was being smothered by her father, but this time the image was rotating so that his face could be better seen. And the face Ruby saw was something Ruby had begged her entire life to never have to deal with.

"No...PLEASE NO!" She unfortunately saw how much of the man's dark features she actually had. "NOT HIM OF ALL THE MEN IN THE WORLD!"

"Is that...who I think it is?" Fork pointed at the image in shock.

" _Daddy's here for you. Daddy will always be here for you and love you no matter what, Rebecca._ " Ruby dropped on her knees, tears trailing down her cheeks, as the bonfire died with the image of her father's face dying last.

The face of Gotham's most famous billionaire and hero.

The face of...

"Bruce Wayne," Artemis said quietly. "The Dark Knight himself. Your real name is not Rebecca Kyle but Rebecca Martha Kyle Wayne, daughter of Catwoman and Batman, a child born from both light and darkness."

"So...Ruby's an antihero offspring?" Sean asked in horrified shock. "She's _a reformee_?"

" _DIRTY BLOOD!_ " Nightmare Moon screamed though the top of her lungs. " _A REFORMEE IS BAD ENOUGH, BUT ONE BORN FROM GOOD AND BAD IS_ _ **A DIRTY BLOOD! GUARDS, KILL THE DIRTY BLOOD!**_ "


	76. Returned, Trapped, and Depressed

Chapter 76: Returned, Trapped, and Depressed

"PASS ON THE FRIENDLY FAREWELL COMMITTEE!" Sean shouted as he thrusted one of his tentacles at the Night Chronosphere and grabbed Ruby, pulling her away from the platform before the guards could reach her.

"Ruby!" Ingwer and Radiance helped Ruby get up from her kneeled position while she still remained unmoved. "Ruby?" The daughter of the Candy Witch tried to touch the cheek of her recently revealed reformee friend, who didn't even bother to lift up her head. "Ruby, come on! Snap out of it! We have to go!"

They seriously _had_ to go: Time was making the clocktower shake horribly and the clocks were spinning their arms nervously.

"What's happening?" Fletcher exclaimed as he tried to stand up on the shaking area they were currently standing on. "It's like an indoor earthquake!"

" _Look what you have done, Artemis!_ " Nightmare Moon berated her son as she pointed at the Night Chronosphere, which began to shake and crack like a steaming mechanism on the verge of exploding. " _Your father's machine is bound to go berserk should it come with contact with dirty blood! You've doomed us all by letting this dirty blood into my kingdom!_ "

"How was I supposed to know that this would happen?" Artemis shouted back in protest. "I can't see everything and it's not like you and Father have told me that this tower could explode!"

" _Why you little..._ "

"Why is Ruby responsible for all of this?" Sean asked. "She just put her Memorb in there..."

" _And when her fingers touched the platform as she did so, the Chronosphere got a snitch of her mixed DNA!_ " Nightmare Rarity explained above the shaking. " _The same way reformees are forbidden to step on your Isle, reformees must never touch Time's creation, which he created to deal with the balance of evil's time and space! But your friend is a mix of good and bad blood..._ "

" **TIME IS RUNNING TOO FAST! THE DAYS ARE SPEEDING UP!** " Time's voice echoed through the tower. " **THE VILLAINS COMET WILL COME HALF A MONTH AHEAD OF TIME!** "

"Oh, so we accidently sped up Doomsday?" Barbara asked nervously.

"Worse: with the Night Chronosphere jammed, the Dreamworld Tree will start crumbling!" Flash's statement was confirmed as everything began to shake harder than ever. "The Everfree Sector will blow up, causing a lunar nuclear bomb that might destroy half of the island!"

"Ruby, get back up!" Ingwer shook Ruby.

"I've ruined everything..." she said mournfully.

"The fault is also mine," Artemis agreed. "If I had just not let you into my home, none of this would have happened because of me."

"Does that mean you'll never see your Dream Girl in the real world?" Pinkamenus asked as he tearfully hugged Artemis.

Then, out of the blue, the quintet and the pony teens found themselves surrounded by a white dome of light while a bigger and royal blue one began to fill the entire dome and slowly do the same with the rest of the Everfree Sector.

"Mom?" Radiance Nightmare called out after she failed to escape the light dome they were stuck in. Soon, the teenagers saw that they couldn't get out of their dome but watch as Time and the goddesses used all their magic to increase their blue dome. "Mom! What are you doing?"

" _Creating a shield that will only destroy the Everfree Sector while you children get teleported straight back to the city!"_ Nightmare Rarity shouted as she shot magic similar to her daughter's at the sky in order to enforce the spell.

"But you'll be blasted into oblivion, Your Majesties!" Barbara gasped. "A villain can't be resuscitated after dying on the Isle of the Lost even if Auradonian magic is used for trying!"

"Mom...please." Radiance stared at her mother with tears dripping from her eyes and onto her cheeks. "Don't do this..." The only response that Nightmare Rarity gave her daughter was a blown kiss and a sad good-bye look that said 'It's for the best'.

"Radiance is right, Mother..." Artemis spoke to Nightmare Moon as they faced one another on opposite sides of the light dome. "Don't sacrifice your existence because of my foolish mistake. If anyone deserves to die right now in this explosion, it would be me."

" _Ah, Artemis_." Nightmare Moon shook her head. She easily put her hands through the dome and cupped her son's cheeks in the middle of her palms. " _Unlike some other villains, I give up many things for my child despite his foolishness. I may be evil but you were, are, and will always be my precious son_."

For the first time since they first met him, the quintet saw Artemis Nightmare abandon his usual stoic posture and began to whimper and shed tears as his mother leaned forward and pressed a farewell kiss on the parts of his forehead that even his helmet couldn't hide. Eventually, Nightmare Moon finally pulled away from the dome and her son.

" _Fix your old and new mistakes, descendants_." She thrust her hand at the dome. A bright light appeared and blinded them for what seemed like forever until they found themselves crash-landing onto a conference table made of ice.

"Forkjølelse! My son!" They had crashed into one of the icy conference rooms (or what appeared to be an icy conference room) during a meeting held by the Villainous Council, and the usually cold White Witch Jadis ran towards her son as if she hadn't seen for a decade.

"Oy! They made it back!" Captain Hook exclaimed as the adults rushed towards them and helped them straighten themselves up. "Forkjølelse, my daughter Jane was getting worried sick about you!"

"How is she?" Fork asked nervously. "I heard she got attacked!"

"Alas, along with her twin Chloe! Can you imagine by Davy Jones' name the cruelty it was to see their bodies in pain and their twin marks of villainy ripped of their beautiful pirate red and gold colors!"

"Can any of you explain to me why _this_ happened?" Frollo demanded as he pointed at one of the screens, which showed the city's border...and a desolate wasteland of burned grass, destroyed trees, rumbled cliff, and so on. "Ten minutes before you showed up, we had to deal with a nuclear explosion giving us this wasteland and a bunch of commuting residents and beasts from the now-gone Infinite Forest of Evil begging us for shelter! God forgive us from the fact that Penna De Mort herself was _merciful_ to actually bother helping us move the border a few feet away from its initial spot just so that we had enough space to shelter all those monstrous refugees in the Hun encampment!"

"My mother failed to shield my mistake..." Artemis looked grim. "She was innocent...AND I GOT HER KILLED!"

"Nightmare Moon...is dead?" the Evil Queen asked. "Just what happened while you were on that quest? Other than the fact that you brought ponies with you?"

"Oh, nothing really," a dry voice replied sarcastically. Everyone turned to see Ruby glaring at all the adults that formed the Council. "No, the quest went _just_ fine, really! I mean, it mostly involved three-quarters of the forest's population trying to kill, hunt, marry, worship me as a savior, suck my blood, or jam with my brain because I'm..." As she spoke, Ruby walked towards the Councilmen before leaning in and shouting at the top of her lungs: " **A DIRTY BLOOD!** "

Gasps and whispers were heard among the Council.

"Rebecca..." Shan Yu began.

"Oh it's 'Rebecca' now, isn't it?" Ruby asked mockingly. She jumped on icy table in order to top every villain at the room as she angrily snapped at them. "You're sure it's not 'Ruby the Reformee Who Isn't Supposed to Be Here Because Antiheroes Are Forbidden On The Isle'? Is it 'Ruby, Oh We Have Such Faith In You! Go Save Us All!'? Or I know! How about 'RUBY, WE FAILED TO TELL YOU: YOU MIGHT DIE NOT KNOWING WHO YOU REALLY ARE'?"

None of the Council members said anything.

"Why not just have told her from the start who she was?" Ingwer asked.

"Yeah, otherwise she'd have known that her antihero nature would have turned Time into a lunar bomb," Flash Bat said bluntly before Barbara Dust slapped him.

Shan Yu sighed before explaining everything. "I guess that you probably learned during your trip that not only is the barrier around the Isle half-magic and half science, but it also detects what kind of person, hero, villain, or antihero made contact with the barrier.

"Around the beginning of September, the security transmitters detected that an antihero born from bad and good blood managed to actually cross the barrier despite the fact that only antiheroes can't cross the barrier due to villains and antiheroes' endless feuding with one another. So when we had the blood sample of Rebecca and Catwoman taken from their medical inspection before they got installed into their last housing once they arrived, we analyzed the blood, and sure enough, Rebecca was the one with the mixed blood."

"We didn't understand how or why a reformee stepped into the Isle, especially after Hook warned us that he saw the Villains Comet approaching," Macbeth continued to explain for the Hun. "But we didn't want to spill out the truth out of fear that the citizens would panic from a reformee crisis, so we acted like there was nothing wrong with you and you were a fully blooded baddy."

"And then when the attacks began, we began to worry that you'd be framed for them, considering the fact that you're nature bares you from a mark of villainy and you killed a man in school grounds. So by going on the quest, you'd be less of a suspect and more of a..."

"What? Some kind of hero or messiah that would deliberate you all from war? Or did you think that I could be some sort of puppet that would lead you to a grand escape out of the Isle so that way you could finish Maleficent's failed revenge plan against Auradon?" Ruby stared at them with pure bitter and waved her hands at him with the body gesture telling them to wake up. "Let's face it, I couldn't avoid getting caught by cops back in Gotham, I couldn't see that the authorities were tricking me when I was a mercenary by making me actually track down rogue supervillains just for them to capture them! I can't even get above a C average at Dragon Hall and I couldn't do anything to keep anyone from getting attacked while I was out on your suicidal mission!" She jumped off the table and began to head for the door.

"Ruby, where are you going?" Ingwer asked.

"Away from anyone," Ruby replied flatly. She began to open the door. A hand grabbed her shoulder and made her turn to face the rest of the quintet.

"Don't do this, Rubes," Sean begged.

"We're friends, remember?" Proserpine added.

"Days ago, you told me that villains and antiheroes hated one another. None of you would have seen me as a friend if you were told about my genetics." Ruby brutally pushed them away from her. "I'm done." She opened the door and slammed it shut, leaving her four old friends stare at the door and break into tears despite their Everfree Sector native friends trying to console them.

"None of this would have happened if I hadn't agreed to give Rebecca the Memorb containing her father in it," Artemis said miserably. Shan Yu patted his shoulder in consolation.

"She was bound to have learned the truth anyway," Shan Yu admitted. "The fault is mine mostly..."

"I saw. After you saw how she behaved with such loyalty towards those she cared, mostly her friends, you saw your own daughter Haya through her." The Hun leader looked down grimly at the ground: clearly he was now worried on how an upcoming war against an unknown enemy would make it impossible for him to prevent his daughter from getting harmed back in Auradon.

"We also have worst news," Lord Shen cut through the silence. "After more than half of the adolescents on the Isle got attacked, the Villainous Council had no choice but to agree with King Benjamin of Auradon that the Isle of the Lost is no longer safe and that drafting all our teenage adolescents to Auradon for good would be the best thing done to spare our children as we deal with our...problem."

"But just yesterday when the Auradonian ships came and the authorities tried to deactivate the barrier in order to give passage to the descendants, the barrier didn't react," Jadis finished for him.

"Wait, what?" Fork asked confused. "Mother, what are you talking about?"

"Isn't it obvious, son? Whoever is doing this has most likely jammed the system Auradon uses from the outside to keep us in the Isle, so the barrier can't be broken from the outside. We villains still have our powers, but when _we_ tried getting rid of the barrier from the _inside,_ nothing happened."

"Even as we're speaking, all the pirates, the Huns, HYDRA, and every villain who once had an army are hitting the barrier with everything they've got," Captain Hook nodded. "Even Dia Nathos and Kaly Astéria have failed to break it and they're born goddesses, for crying out loud!"

"I could try to see if I can find a way to break it," Artemis said, "but as far as I can see, until the barrier is removed, no villain can leave the Isle nor can any hero step in."

"Back in her castle, Nightmare Moon said that ten descendants in the city other than us were unharmed," Sean said as Radiance gave him back Biggie (she had safely kept Biggie in her good hands when they had last seen N.M and the raptor seemed to have started growing attached to the daughter of Nightmare Rarity). "Do you have any idea of who they are?"

"Tara Sam Scam," Cruella listed. "Moonlight Glimmer, Otrera Beldam, Diego Harkness, François Tremaine, Manny Colchis, Buffy Killigan, Florence Poison Isley, Feige Blomstroll, Dårlig Bergen, Jessie Joker, Minuit Sparkle, Penna De Mort, and Martin Fiske."

"Hang on, that doesn't make ten but fifteen!" Proserpine realized. "Nightmare Moon said that ten of them would be the next targets, so either I'm being stupid or five of them are backstabbing us!"

 _Later, at the Fiske Estate_

While the children of Ursula, Hades, the Candy Witch, and Jadis went back home to their respective parents and brought with them their new friends in order to stay put in their houses until further notice, and the Nightmare cousins went to the barrier to see what could be done, Shan Yu was ringing the doorbell of Monkey Fist's castle.

His guess was that Ruby _had_ to be here since there was no way that she wouldn't stop by the home of her lover first after she burst out of the meeting, infuriated that Shan Yu and his colleagues hadn't bothered to tell her that she was from a...group of individuals that weren't supposed to have stepped in the Isle until she came. The Hun was hoping that he could reason with the reformee, at least hoping that they could sit down and explain that his faults had led her to an undeserved fate.

He still remembered how he was on the day they got her blood sample, confirming that she was the daughter of a cat burglar and of a Gotham billionaire who mostly did nighttime vigilance until the latter retired from his second job about sixteen years ago. Shan Yu had been initially furious that an antihero had unexplainably put foot on the Isle of The Lost despite the secret accords between Auradonians and the villains. He had first been tempted to order her immediate execution until he saw and recognized her as a child forced to live away from her old home, which sadly was what he reluctantly had to let his daughter Haya go through when the city's residents voted for her to be sent to Auradon months ago. So with the rest of the Council's aid and Facilier as the latter did his job of Dragon Hall Headmaster, the reformee had been falsely labeled as '100% evil blood' in order to be unsuspected despite the occasionally ignored hints of her blood status.

But still, despite her odd heritage and her school average nearly selling her out, Ruby had been adored by almost all her classmates and nearly every other villain to the point where she cared for and was loyal to her friends and even got the spark between her and one of the male descendants.

He just hoped that he could get _that_ Ruby back.

Bates finally opened the door.

"Hello, Bates," he said. "Is..."

"Miss Kyle is not here." For the first time since they had known one another, Bates had interrupted him. "And I'm quite sure Lord Fiske would like to have a _few_ words with you!"

An angry Bates was not something you see everyday, so Shan Yu didn't argue as he followed the valet into the castle until they finally arrived in the main living room. And the scenario was _not_ pretty: the place was occupied by the Fiskes, Mosses, and Killigans (who had decided to bunk together in Monkey Fist's castle due to fear), and all the monkey ninjas were lined up with tissue boxes in front of the couch, where Monkey Fist and Gilliard were trying to comfort Martin Fiske as the latter uncontrollably sobbed in his father's arms along with sneezing into tissue papers and throwing them into balls at the floor for the Killigans to swing them at the fireplace with their golf clubs.

Bates cleared his throat, which caught the attention of everyone except the terribly weeping Martin.

"Well, if it isn't the Hun squeeb who can't even run an island full of villains!" Gill spat.

"Aye, how could ya do this?" Duff Killigan agreed. He stopped golfing tissue balls into the fireplace and both he and his daughter Buffy glared at Shan Yu. "I mean, destroying a village, invading China, and chasing a wee lass on a rooftop is one thing, but lying to an innocent teen and then sending her on a suicidal mission without even telling her the truth?"

"Yeah, that's a big level of low for the great Shan Yu." Buffy nodded at her father. Shan Yu grimaced at the Killigans and walked towards Monkey Fist, who didn't dare to look back at him and focused his eyes on his son, who was continuing to weep and sob as his tearful eyes looked down at his hand as it clutched a blue ring. Shan Yu instantly recognized it as the ring Ruby had worn before and after the entire mess started.

"She...left the castle?" he asked quietly.

"No," Monkey Fist spat, his eyes glaring at the sheriff he used to trust. "She abandoned all her possessions here and didn't even bother bidding us farewell in person. All she left was the ring my son gave her and a letter."

"Gilliard, read it again for us." Gill handed a white piece of paper at his son. The latter nodded and cleared his throat before reading the letter in a volume high enough for Shan Yu to listen with guilt.

"'Dear Martin, I wished I could have just gone straight back at you and reunite as much as my heart really wants to, but after everything that has occurred to me when I went into the Infinite Forest of Evil and what I learned during my trip, the last thing you'd probably want is to have me near you physically and emotionally.

"Remember during our first date that I told you that I used to have reformee friends back when I was still on the run? Well, turns out that I'm actually one of them, and thanks to the Council's lies and the general villain and antihero feuding, I've literally been labeled as vermin. And that's how I'm starting to feel.

"Let's face it, I've done nothing amazing in my life other than getting innocent villains thrown here, killing on school grounds, provoking snakes, and delaying the tasked mission because of my stubbornness. I couldn't even save any of my 'friends'- now I don't know if I even have any friends at all- from getting attacked and become part of some apocalyptic scheme. I've endangered everyone, including you.

"I don't know where I'll go, but I know I can't stay near anyone since I'm such a life hazard. I wished I didn't have to just leave this letter and return your ring on your bed and leave without saying good-bye to you personally, but I was afraid of facing you and your father...again.

"You were the best thing to have happened to me in my life, but you don't deserve to have vermin like me as your girlfriend and I don't deserve to have a great guy like you for a boyfriend. Good luck in your pursuit for becoming an Ultimate Monkey Master. With genuine love, Ruby."

Gilliard and the rest glared angrily at Shan Yu while Martin continued to cry in his father's arms.

Ruby wasn't in the castle anymore.

"Thanks to _your_ stubborn idiocy, this the first time my son has been heartbroken ever since the accident involving his mother," Monkey Fist told Shan Yu while he stroke his son's hair, ignoring the latter's tears ruining his vest.

"Aye, imagine what she could be doing right now because of your lies!" Buffy said.

 _Meanwhile, in a cave in the middle of a coastal cliff by the Kraken Trail_

Rain was pouring outside. From where Ruby was now hiding, near the area where she made the mistake of shooting at a pythonaconda instead of walking away, she could hear the distant grunts of villains hitting at the barrier. From the cold, humid cliff cave she was now camouflaged from the rest of everything, she could see Auradonian ships and planes shooting at the barrier from the other side, hoping to free the villains, but with no luck.

Everything was ruined because of her, a reformee, a dirty blood born from a murdered mother and a father who, for some reason, didn't bother searching for his own child. Her desires of having a life for once were now ruined. Now her only options were to either get out of the cave and instantly jump into the water to drown, or just sit in the cave, do nothing, and willingly starve herself to death.

 _What would destroy you the most if you survive after this hour? My Killing Curse? Or discovering the truth about your paternal if you take the Memorb from my nemesis?_ Penna De Mort's words rung with truth in her head, for the more guilt and self-loathing began to fill her, the more Ruby wished that she had just been killed by Naga than beg Artemis Nightmare for her memory.

Ruby: _I should've ignored those million thoughts in my head_

 _I should have told my heart to not keep listening._

 _What made me think that I could call a place home_

 _When I don't even belong?_

Ruby finally dropped on her knees and joined the endless rain by contributing her endless tears.


	77. Matchmaker and Tarts

Chapter 77: Matchmaker and Tarts

 **(Note from author: the viewpoint has changed from the kids on the Isle of the Lost back to those from Auradon for now.)**

"Lon? You awake?" Kory snapped her fingers at Lonnie, making the daughter of Mulan jump on her seat. The fall term was now done in Auradon Prep and everyone was going on their Christmas breaks.

Well, some to say the least.

Ever since they had followed the events occurring on the Isle of the Lost (especially after the adults from the U.N were shocked that the Villainous Council had sent five teenagers on a suicidal trip while hiding the identity of one of them in particular), Ben had decided to cancel his cruise (much to Mal and Gabriel's chagrin) and sent all the Auradonian aid he could get to bring down the barrier after it refused to respond to the usual button system. While he did that, his father, the ex-King Beast, had gone to Gotham to inform the billionaire Bruce Wayne that his daughter Rebecca, or commonly known as Ruby Kyle, was trapped on the Isle, which terrified the man about the idea of his lost child finally found but in an island full of criminals, including a mysterious one who was attacking children for their essences in order to send in the apocalypse.

So while the authorities were continuing to help the trapped villains deal with a way to break the barrier, Ben, the Fairy Godmother, and Merlin thought it would be best that the ten VKs in Auradon did not spend their Christmas break in one place, so they had to split up in secure places: Mal stayed with Ben, Gabriel went with Beast and Belle in Belle's village, Jay traveled with Audrey to her grandparents' castle back in Europe, Evie and Doug went to the seven dwarves' cottage in Germany, Fairy Godmother and Jane took Carlos with them when F.G had to go on a business trip to the Fae Realm, Charles went with his own friends as planned to Paris, Xaos joined a bunch of students at a ski resort in Canada, and Kory, Macy, and Haya went with Lonnie to spend time in China as promised.

So now here the girls were, in a plane heading straight for Beijing where they would catch the next train leaving the city and straight to Lonnie's village, while an upcoming war was about to start in an island six hours away from here.

"Sorry." Lonnie rubbed her forehead. "I guess I'm just tired. It's eight hours of difference between Auradon and Beijing, you know."

"Or six hours of distance between you and Artemis Nightmare."

"Was the screen _that_ visible when Artemis showed Ruby my tree? No one else seemed to have noticed it."

"True, but Haya's hawk eyes instantly recognized your form on that tree. Besides, I'm Loki's daughter, remember? You don't think I can tell when somebody's lying?"

Lonnie sighed in defeat and stared at the endless field of night clouds from the plane window. Since only Kory, Xaos, and Haya seemed to have realized that Lonnie had hidden her 'secret, spiritual connection' with a young alicorn god from the Isle from them, they immediately expressed their concerns to F.G and Merlin in private. The magicians didn't hesitate to put Lonnie in a couple therapy sessions to ensure that she wasn't being possessed or brainwashed by Artemis; in fact, they were rather surprised that Lonnie was still sane and healthy from her relationship-paused-with-a-hiatus with the son of Nightmare Moon.

"You know, he seemed like a rather complex person when we all saw him through the crystal ball." Kory leaned on her seat. "But you clearly met him spiritually? What was he like?"

"Rather chivalrous," Lonnie said. "A person I felt like I could relate to." She giggled. "The first guy I ever received a kiss from."

Kory chuckled at Lonnie's description.

"But then after what I...we saw eventually, I don't know if I should still be in love with him because he still does have decent morals or hate him because not only did I see him act cocky but I also found out he lied to me about his...reason to put a pause between our relationship." She looked up and saw that Kory was jotting down notes of their discussion in a piece of paper. "Is it bad that I like a guy who's a god, immortal, and has lied only once so far?"

It was a good thing that Kory and Lonnie were sitting six rows away from Macy and Haya, who were sleeping like sloths in their seats. Otherwise, the plane maintenance would have to deal with Haya giving a critique on Lonnie's actions and give a speech on how it's better to be off single.

"Eh, gods are almost the same." Kory put away her piece of paper into her pocket. "They mostly like to brag about their great exploits and whatnot, do and say whatever they think is best for somebody they like, and they give you headaches if they're related to you." A waitress came by with a cart and gave each of them a tray full of the usual plane food they give you for breakfast during long flights. Slightly disgusted, Kory waited until the waitress was gone to snap her fingers at the trays, turning the food into a feast of pancakes, hot cocoa, fruit salads, and peanut butter toasts.

"Besides, look on the bright side, compared your boyfriend to my dad, he's more responsible than the latter, so I say keep him." Kory took a sip of hot cocoa.

"Speaking of your dad, have you communicated with your dad lately? Xaos said that he had a hard time communicating with Seth ever since the last time he called him after midterms," Lonnie said as she cut through her blueberry flavored pancakes.

"Not really, but I heard news from him. Remember when Aaricia's dad Thor came to pick her up last Tuesday so that he could take her to see her Asgardian family? Well, I actually got to meet Thor and he's not as annoying my dad kept blabbing about. So Thor talked to me and said that all the evil gods who were locked in Tartarus underneath the Isle had to placed temporarily in safer prisons. But while Hades and Seth and the other gods get house arrests in their old territories under godly surveillance, my dad went back to being nude and chained to a rock while a snake spits venom on him."

"Bummer."

"Yep."

They couldn't to eat their breakfasts, and by the time the waitress returned to collect their dirty plates, Kory noticed that Lonnie still looked like she was in thought.

"Is something still bothering you?" Kory asked Lonnie and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah," Lonnie admitted. "I forgot to mention it to you guys but...my family wants me to go to the matchmaker as soon as we get to my village. My grandma said that I still had to before my parents take us skiing at the Tung Shao Ski Resort."

" _That's_ why were heading straight to your hometown from Beijing rather than go straight to the ski slopes? And I thought it was to meet your entire family."

"Oh, you and Macy and Haya still get to meet my family and they also want to meet you guys, but I need to do one trip to the matchmaker's before we leave the next day."

"Hang on, are we talking about the same matchmaker whom your mom burned the butt because of some cricket and said your mom would disgrace you family even though Mulan still ended up bringing honor to your household by saving all of China?" Kory scowled when she saw Lonnie nod. "Good Laufey, you have an affair with a god from the Isle and you have to go to some arranged marriage procession? Remind me again why you're doing this?"

"Because my parents and grandparents agreed that if it turns out I won't live to be a great hero like my mom or be some sort of army leader like my dad, then at least I'll be prepared to marry someone who was chosen to me in advance," Kory explained. "Let's face it, I'm no where near being like my mom the same way she wasn't like my grandma, I don't even know if I'll ever be with Artemis should there be no war going on, and how the heck will my family react if they found out I was hooked up to the son of an evil goddess?" Lonnie took a deep breath before continuing: "Also, I didn't study for what I have to say in front of the matchmaker."

Kory sighed in frustration. "Fortunately, since Loki and Seth were cruel enough to set me up with the love of my life, I know a lot about arranged marriages, so I'll help you out."

"Really?"

"Just make sure you find a way to break the news to Haya. She _hates_ to idea of any girl being forced to be with a guy she doesn't want to be with."

 _Paris, December 21st, at 7:15am in French time_

Cousin Zephyr, the son of Phoebus and Esmeralda, had picked the teenagers and the gargoyles up with a couple of vans he and his college buddies rented. So while one van carried Lawrence, Hubert, and Lawrence, the other one was being driven by Zephyr with Avery, Gitane, and Charles as his passengers.

For Avery and Gitane, it felt good to be back in their home sweet home, so the sights were familiar to them, but Charles was the one clogging the car windows with Petite Charlotte and admiring the winter City of Lights, from the Eiffel Tower to even the smallest street with the least amounts of cafés, from the Ladybug and Cat Noir statued monuments to the Louvre, and the Seine to the Pont De Notre Dame.

"I can't wait to introduce you to my folks, Charles," Avery said. "My mom has set up the guest room just for you and my dad is hoping to give you a tour of the cathedral."

Charles gulped as he saw the towering cathedral approaching. He began to hug Petite Charlotte tightly in his arms.

"Charlesy, _relax_ ," Gitane reassured her boyfriend from her seat. "Our parents know you aren't responsible for what your father did and they promised to treat you fairly."

"Yeah, but I don't know if the rest of Paris has." The vans pulled through the bridge and onto a small road. "Maybe I should just watch the Festival of Fools from my window..."

"Missing the festival? Are you nuts?" Zephyr laughed. "That's like saying you don't want to get presents on Christmas!"

"Do I look like the kind of kid who got toys or other trinkets other than a Bible, whip slashing, and wooden crucifix on every Christian holiday?"

"Holy hump..." Avery muttered in disbelief.

Zephyr pulled the van in order to park next to his buddy's in front of a small bakery since parking cars were unauthorized in front of the cathedral, especially since the residents and the local gypsies were setting up the plaza in advance for the Festival of Fools. Avery instantly helped with getting the gargoyles out of their van and Hubert, Lawrence, and Victoria quickly started to clomp their way towards Notre Dame, making Avery run after them and Zephyr to carry Avery's luggage for him while Charles nervously put his foot out of the car and into the cold snow. A shiver went up his spine when he remembered that he lost his mother on a snowy day...and thanks to the cruelty of Auradon Prep showing everything that was going on through a crystal ball, Charles had been even more emotionally scarred than ever when he found that not only was his mother not murdered by Frollo but Penna De Mort, but Charles had been brainwashed into seeing only the abusive side of his father, the judge who actually tried to protect and for forgetting the fact that Kaa's son was actually his older half-brother.

Gitane instantly recognized the nature of his dismay and managed to get him and Petite Charlotte out of the van. "You know what will cheer you up? Gypsy tarts. Come on!"

Hearing his still somewhat hungry stomach make noises, Charles took his goat with him and followed Gitane to the area in the plaza where people (residents and gypsies) were working together to set up the stage that Charles assumed was for dancing and naming the King of Fools, numerous tents hosting carnival games, puppet shows, items on sale, photo booths, on-the-go pastry shops, and other wonders, tables to sit on, and newly built stables. The smell of warm dough invaded the cold air, making it enough to warm up one person. Charles was amazed by the sight, especially when seeing all the Parisians socializing and working with gypsies as if they had been friends since pre-school.

"We'll also have to go to the Champs Élysées," Gitane said as they approached a purple tent. "They put a bunch of temporary, but fun rides just like the ones we went to at the Auradon County Fair." She led Charles into the tent, which was literally like a small bakery complete with the oven, shelves full of recently baked goods, and a table full of baking tools. A bearded white skinned, black-haired man dressed in a mix of Russian and gypsy clothes was at the counter. "Hey, Pesha!"

" _Energichnyy_!" Pesha greeted her warmly in a thick Russian accent. "So nice to see you! How was Auradon?"

"It's great, but King Ben has to deal with the Isle of the Lost due to some...internal issues," Gitane said while Charles admired the displayed pastries.

"Oh, _da_." Pesha shook his head. "Global news hit everywhere, even Russia when I went to Moscow last week to see good friend Bartok. You know Bartok, right, _energichnyy_?"

"I heard of him, but I knew his daughters Hermia and Ariel back when I was still at St Luther's." Gitane grimaced as she mentioned her old school.

"Bartok worried sick that, with the villains trapped inside the barrier by some _pomeshannyy_ , that _pomeshannyy_ might come after his girls while still in school. Girls decided to go on school ski trip to Mount Middleton in Colorado not too far from school despite their father wanting them to just go back to family circus in Russia."

"Your friend has nothing to worry about for now," Gitane reassured Pesha. "As far as I know, St Luther Rose's Academy is way too far from any water front while Auradon Prep is closest to the sea..."

"But barely two states separate Auradon Prep from St Luther Rose," Pesha noted.

 _Shit_ , Gitane noted. After everything they had learned, Auradon Prep was now fully aware that villains had more personal issues with antiheroes than with heroes and Gitane had completely forgotten that St Luther Rose Academy, the only school for antiheroic offspring in the entire world, was located in the town of Middleton in Colorado while Auradon Prep was technically located somewhere near San Francisco. If Gitane had wanted to, she could have easily taken a bus to go three states towards the school she had only attended to for a month.

"These tarts smell delicious." Gitane cut herself out of her thoughts and noticed Charles compliment Pesha's pastries. "What are they made of?"

"Ah, you like my tarts?" Pesha smiled proudly. "They're made of evaporated milk, dark muscovado sugar, and shortbread pie crust baked all together with lots of love." He leaned from the counter and whispered at Charles. "But between you and me, _malyutka_ , I cheat a little bit and add some ginger and mint to give the tarts a flavor similar to those of the Russian Easter Cake."

Charles licked his lips. "It sounds yummy..." Petite Charlotte made an agreeing noise and hopped by his feet.

Gitane grinned. "Well it so happens we came here for tarts. "How about two of your best tarts for Charles and me and a slice for Petite Charlotte, eh, Pesha?"

"Sure thing." Pesha pulled out two full tarts and cut a slice from a spare one. He gave the tarts to the teens for free (friendship code of honor between gypsies) and gave the slice for Petite Charlotte to nibble. "There you go, _deti_. Have a nice Christmas and see you at the Festival!"

Minutes later, Charles and Gitane were sitting at one of the tables while enjoying Pesha's tarts and some hot cocoa mugs they purchased from the nearest café. The son of Frollo and Tradaria was wolfing down on the tart, enjoying it so much.

"Seriously, why don't they have Pesha's tarts at the Auradon Prep cafeteria?" he asked after finishing his tart. "I could eat a whole truck full of these!"

Gitane grinned at him. But before she could say anything, they saw Avery marching his way towards him. " _Where_ have you guys been?" he demanded.

"Walking around the festival preparations and eating tarts," Charles answered eagerly. "Have you ever eaten Pesha's tarts, Avery? Because they are _so_ good!"

"Charlesy has just been introduced to the tarts we gypsies will having at the festival," Gitane told Avery, who looked undeterred.

"Yeah well, while you two were busy frolicking around, I had to help Zephyr and his buddy bring the gargoyles up the cathedral and Charles still has to bring himself, his goat, and his stuff upstairs. Not to mention that in a couple of hours or so, my folks and your dad are taking us with Uncle Phoebus, Auntie Esmeralda, and Cousin Phoebus to have brunch with the Agrestes!"

"Brunch with every hero in Paris..." Charles chuckled nervously as Avery dragged him by the arm towards Notre Dame. "Swell."

 _Mulan's Village, December 21st, at 2:15pm in Chinese time_

After riding a train that took almost all morning to take the girls from Beijing to the far of countryside, they had finally arrived at the village train station and were now riding a pull cart straight to Lonnie's house.

"So, repeat what you have to be," Kory looked up from the scroll containing the notes they were using to help Lonnie prepare for her upcoming meeting with the matchmaker.

"Quiet, demure, graceful..." Lonnie began until she felt Macy lift up her chin.

"Try to keep your chin up and sit up straight," Macbeth's daughter advised her. "Believe me, I had to deal with evil aristocracy back in the Isle and it's universally rude to not keep your chin up and look at people when talking to them. So try to keep this elegant posture and repeat."

Lonnie nodded, sat up straight, and held her chin up as she repeated: "Quiet, demure, graceful, polite, refined, poised, and..." She struggled with the last word. "And..."

"Punctual?" Haya muttered as she watched their pull cart being pulled through the village streets full of the traditional simple Chinese stores, ox-pulled carts, and market stands to the more modern shopping areas, bookstores, electronic boutiques, and local arcades, most of them making the village wealthier thanks to Mulan's success.

"And punctual," Lonnie said.

"OK, so we covered everything from duties and the Final Admonition to pouring tea and I have concluded one thing." Kory rolled up the scroll and groaned: "There's 30% chances that she might fail."

"Isn't 70% good enough?" Haya rolled her eyes. "I mean, I can't even see Lonnie as a mute housewife bound to just 'bearing sons' and 'please her future in-laws with a sign of dignity'. Can't she just be herself?"

"Haya, it's only going to be like taking a Plan B in case Plan A of college applying doesn't work out," Lonnie said. The man pulling the cart finally came to a stop in front of what appeared to be a rather prosperous Chinese farm, only with a big traditional Chinese mansion that could be seen from behind the wall surrounding the farm.

"My salutations to your mother, Miss Fa Li," the man bowed his head and left as soon as Lonnie gave him a tip. The girls took their luggage. Lonnie was the first to open the gate, leading the trio into a green courtyard complete with a small bridge over a pond, a magnolia tree, a stone staircase leading to the family ancestral shrine, and an outdoor gymnasium complete with bars, an outdoor dojo, and trampoline. An elderly man was seen sitting on the bench admiring the magnolia while a redheaded girl was seen practicing at the gym.

" _Yéyé_!" Lonnie dropped her luggage and raced to the elderly man. "Grandpa!"

"Shizi, you're home!" Her grandfather, who was none other than Fa Zhou, got up with his cane and embraced his granddaughter in a hug. "Oh, how I missed you!"

"Are Mama and Baba here?" Lonnie asked hopefully.

"Sadly no, they had an emergency to call to at the Emperor's and the UN. But they promised on their family honor to be here on time to go to the ski resort with you." Lonnie looked down a bit sadly while her grandfather met her friends. "And I see you brought some of your school friends with you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Fa Zhou," Kory said politely while Macy curtsied and Haya gave a small nod. It might not have been noticed by many, but Lonnie did not fail to notice that her grandfather did look rather grimly at Haya, who seemed to return a ruffian translation of 'Not my fault if you're kid ran of to kill my dad' via staring.

"Well, I'd guess we'd better get our stuff in our rooms and head to town to join _Nànà_ and _Nainai_ ," Lonnie.

"Compared to your mother, you are an hour and a half early," her grandfather chuckled as they followed him through the courtyard bridge and towards the area where the shrine and outdoor gym were located. "But do make sure that you get to the Bathing Palace on time. Otherwise you'll get cold water like your mother did."

Lonnie shivered at the thought.

"Why does Lonnie need to take a bath before seeing the matchmaker, Mr. Fa Zhou?" Macy asked out of curiosity.

"Well, my dear, aside from presenting her dutiful knowledge to the matchmaker, a possible bride must also make herself physically presentable. That's why her mother, other older female relatives, and some outside female help prepare the bride via bathing, hair combing, dressing, and makeup."

"Ooh, is it possible to help with hair combing and makeup? I LOVE this kind of stuff!" Macy asked excitedly.

Fa Zhou chuckled warmly. "If my wife and mother accept extra help, you could." They passed the shrine and went to the gym, where the redheaded girl was performing a series of arabesque and flamingo poses on some bars. "Cassandra!" Fa Zhou called out irritably, making the girl swing herself down and land on her feet in a perfect Olympian pose.

Compared to Macy's orangey red hair with golden locks, this girl's hair was of hot garnet and wine color that was tied up into a braid that reached all the way past an inch of her hips, giving her leftover hair a fiery shape and her face's right side to be covered by some loose hair. Her skin was almost as pale as Macy's and her eyes were of a spruce hue. The girl wore a red martial arts robe and belt that matched the colors of her hair, only the robe had a full-body dragon and fire designs and flower blossom designs on the tips of her sleeves, black pants that reached her knees, and black flat shoes ideal for martial arts. A red and golden reptilian tail seemed to be sticking out of her shirt, swiftly moving, and matching the tattoo she had near her bare left ankle.

"Miss Man Junior," she grinned mischievously at Lonnie before turning at Fa Zhou and pouting at him annoyingly: "I thought my dad told you to not call me Cassandra."

"Very well... _Cassie_ ," Fa Zhou sighed in exasperation.

"Guys, this is Cassie, Mushu's daughter," Lonnie said as she did the introductions. "She's also training to be my guardian the same way her dad was to my mom...kind of."

"You mean the red lizard that flared up the firework canon that your mom used on my dad?" Haya asked bluntly.

"Ooh, your dad's Shan Yu? So cool!" Cassie immediately shook hands with Haya and the rest of the girls from the Isle of The Lost. "FYI, I heard your music through the King Studios Radio Station a few months ago and let me just say that your band is _so wicked!_ "

"Uh, thanks?" Haya said in a rather stunned voice.

"Wait, if you're Mushu's kid and technically the 'destined' sidekick of Mulan's daughter, how come we've never seen you at Auradon Prep?" Kory asked.

"Oh, that's because I go to St. Luther Rose Academy because of my dad being an antihero and all."

 _Later_

After putting their stuff in the rooms and changing into more 'local-style' clothing, the girls headed straight to the Bathing Palace where Lonnie had to first go to before heading to the matchmaker.

"So you just made it in St Luther's cheerleading team?" Haya asked Cassie. Surprisingly, despite the usual villain-and-antihero-personal-hatred and the fact that Shan Yu and Mushu were technically on different sides in Mulan's story, their respective daughters seem to get along nicely.

"Yeah. For two years now we got a cool head cheerleader at school because she actually manages to combine cheerleading moves with kung fu techniques that I don't remember the name of and she managed to win 1st place trophies for every cheerleading regionals. Good thing that Lonnie and I spent this summer at her parents' ex-war camp turned summer martial arts camp, because I then became prepared for the Loud Roadrunners cheerleading tryouts and here I am, a cheerleader."

"Seriously, you guys are called the Loud Roadrunners?" Kory said. "Dragon Hall's mascot is Deathly Hallows."

"How the heck does that relate to you're school being called Dragon Hall?"

"Exactly!"

The girls laughed as they compared their schools' ridiculous antics.

"Hey, Cassie, how come Hu and Meirong aren't coming as well to the ski trip?" Lonnie asked Cassie. "They usually come skiing with us."

"Who are Hu and Meirong?" Macy asked.

"Hang on, those name ring a bell." Haya rubbed her chin. "Yep, I remember: Sharon Paon Lei mentioned them being the kids of the Dragon Warrior and Tigress and Master Shifu and Mei Ling."

"They go to St Luther Rose with me as well because of our parents, but they chose to go skiing at Mt Middleton instead since it was close to the school rather than pay extra tickets just for a round trip. I'll see them again next year at the beginning of the semester."

They finally reached the bathing Palace, which honestly only like a normal old house made of solid dirt and red tiles. Cassie pushed the blue curtain aside from the doorway, letting the girls into a blue room where three old women (two of them being Lonnie's grandmother and great-grandmother, and the other one the tenant of the Bathing Palace) were waiting.

"Finally, you're here, Shizi," Fa Li said as she hugged her granddaughter.

"And twenty-five minutes early," Lonnie's great-grandmother noted as she pulled a caged cricket out of nowhere. "Thank you, lucky cricket!"

"Not again!" Cassie slapped herself as the women Lonnie was led towards the tenant, who began to examine her.

"Well, as long as nobody bursts into song..." Haya began.

Tenant: _You're not giving me much to work with._

 _Believe me, honey, I've seen worse._

"I stand corrected," Haya muttered as the visible silhouettes of Lonnie and the tenant went behind a folding screen and the tenant could be seen undressing Lonnie.

Tenant: _We're going to turn this young bloom_

 _Into an Empress' soft silk purse._

The tenant pushed Lonnie into a wooden tub of hot steaming, bubbling bath, and pushed the folding screen aside.

"It's _hot_!" Lonnie exclaimed as her relatives and friends approached to help her out.

"Would you have preferred it cold?" Fa Li asked teasingly.

"Are you trying to roast her or doll her up?" Haya asked as she was beginning to freak out when she watched Lonnie get more water splashed on her, the tenant scrubbing her hair with shampoo (good thing she said yes to trying out Macy's chamomile shampoo), and her grandmother to clean her skin thoroughly.

Tenant: _We'll have you washed and dried,_

 _Cleaned and polished until you glow with pride._

 _A beauty worthy from all men to be eyed._

 _Just my recipe for instant bride._

 _You'll bring honor to us all._

Soon after the bathing was done and they put Lonnie in some white underdress, they moved on to the next room of the Bathing Palace, where Macy and Kory helped some grateful Chinese women comb Lonnie's hair into a perfect bun to ensure that not a single hair was loose.

Macy: _I could tell you that when you see_

 _What with this task we went through_

Woman #1: _Boys would gladly go to war for you_

Woman #2: _With good fortune_

Woman #1: _And a great hairdo_

Kory: _And one ticket for a perfect matrimony_

All (except Haya and Lonnie): _You'll bring honor to us all_

Women (as they moved from the Bathing Palace to the Dress Store):

 _A girl can bring her family great honor in one way_

 _By striking a good match, and this could be the day!_

They went to the Dress Store, where they proceeded to make Lonnie dress up in a hanfu dress almost similar to her mother's but in a hot magenta and sky blue like those she wore on Family Day. She almost choked for air when Cassie and her grandmother tightened her dress around the waist.

Cassie: _Honestly, why do men demand such weird tastes?_

Store Women: _Calm, obedient._

Haya: _I get for working fast place, but good breeding?_

Cassie and Fa Li: _And a tiny waist!_

All but Lonnie and Haya: _You'll bring honor to us all!_

Women (as they moved from the Dress Store to the Makeup Spa):

 _Although we no longer have to face any threats from the Huns,_

 _We still men for raising our lands, and girls for bearing sons!_

This time, the Chinese women preferred that they were left to deal with applying the white facial powder, red lip paint, and perfect black eyeliner on Lonnie.

Fa Li and Makeup Artist: _When we're through, you can't fail_

 _So much lovelier than a lotus blossom, soft and pale_

 _How can any boy say 'No Sale'._

 _You'll bring honor to us all._

"You're ready," Fa Li said as she placed the same flower comb she had given her own daughter ages ago. While Lonnie's great-grandmother secured the cricket cage at the back of her skirt, Fa Li commented on how Lonnie looked like a reflection of Mulan ages ago.

As soon as the Chinese women turned their backs to get her umbrella, Lonnie was given good luck hugs by her friends.

"Break a leg," Macy said. She tapped Lonnie near her chest, causing Lonnie to look down and notice Macy secretly clipping Artemis' brooch underneath all those layers of shirts. The daughter of Macbeth winked at her before letting Haya give Lonnie the last hug, which was rather tight for Haya standards.

"Please be yourself," Haya whispered before pulling away and revealing that she had sneaked her feather pendant around Lonnie's neck. The daughter of Mulan stared in surprise at Shan Yu's daughter, who just said smugly: "You know what you want."

Before Lonnie could say anything, her grandmother gave her the umbrella and the girl had to go join the other bridal candidates and wait in formal style in front of the matchmaker's house while nearby villagers went to gather around the house.

Haya: _Ancestral Huns, hear this plea._

 _Please don't have such a fate forced on my friend Lonnie._

 _Sure she just wants to uphold her family tree,_

 _But can't she do it in a way other than the matrimonial decree?_

 _I should know that it's not my place to argue at all_

 _On how these people make her go to the matchmaker,_

 _But for Lonnie, can't you give a pass to her,_

 _One where she can bring honor to us all?_

The doors burst open and out came a fat old Chinese woman carrying a notepad and pen as if she were a health inspector rather than a matchmaker.

"Oy, it's the same woman that Mulan had to deal with," Fa Li groaned. "I thought she retired years ago!"

"Fa Li Shizi!" the matchmaker called out. Without saying anything, Lonnie got up from her position, folded her umbrella, and walked in front of the matchmaker, stopped, and bowed humbly.

"Clearly more-mannered than the last Fa," the matchmaker said drily as she took notes down and led Lonnie inside before shutting the door rather loudly behind them.

"Great Weird Sisters!" Macy said in disbelief. "If I had known that Lonnie was dealing with Coach Kholtas' evil counterpart, I'd have told Lonnie to go with the Hun mating procession."

"Gee, you don't say," Haya muttered. Despite her friends protests and those of a crowd disapproving of a Hun snooping under the window of a Chinese matchmaker. Cassie, being Lonnie's guardian-in-training and a rather mischievous dragon, couldn't resist joining her.

"What's the Hun mating procession?" Fa Li asked Macy.

"Oh, you know. A male Hun or female Hun see somebody of the opposite sex that they want as a potential spouse and life partner, they must first face that Hun in a series of challenges that test their speed, strength, and cunning. If the Hun and his or her desired spouse find each other in a tie at the end of the competition and no one is superior than the other, it confirms that they are a compatible couple and equals in combat."

"Interesting."

"'Too skinny and not good for bearing sons just like her mother'," Haya hissed. " _Who_ hired this woman and _who_ said that tiny waists were a good thing?"

"Uh oh." Cassie bent down from the window. "The cricket got out!"

"Not again!" Fa Li exclaimed.

"See, this is way I don't do lucky crickets: they're not lucky at all. I, however, am an animal that represents good power and fortune!"

"And where I'm from, dragons have big egos," Haya snickered, making Cassie grimace.

" _Fulfill your duties calmly and respectfully and think before you act_ ," Lonnie was heard saying from the house. " _That will bring you honor and glory_."

"Wow, looks like helping her study in the train really has paid off." Kory smiled in relief.

"Thank you for helping my granddaughter out," Fa Li said with genuine gratitude. "I can tell she's doing a lot better than my daughter did when she was sixteen."

"Yeah, but I'm just worried about the 30% chances that she might fail..." Kory then gasped. "Mrs. Fa, remind me again how the cricket accident occurred."

A sudden gasp came from Cassie as she immediately looked away from the cricket and muttered through her gritted teeth: "The cricket! It's in the tea!"

A crash was heard and now the Matchmaker was heard screaming. "Oh, and now this time the Matchmaker's front shirt is burning." Cassie looked back at the window.

"Well, at least she's being original," Lonnie's great-grandmother commented. The doors burst open and everyone backed away when the matchmaker came in, yelling and yanking her arms with her shirt burning, making her look like a raging she-demon.

"PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!" She screamed.

"I'm so sorry!" Lonnie exclaimed.

"A disgrace to your family and our traditions! A disgrace like your mother!" the matchmaker pointed at Lonnie before putting her hand out in a shape meant to slap Lonnie in the face, frightening her and the rest of the crowd. But if there's one thing that the matchmaker should have learned years ago, it's that Haya Yu _hates_ seeing any of her friends being abused as such, so she immediately darted her way towards the matchmaker and, with her Hun strength, lifted the fat woman off the ground and threw her face first into a puddle of mud occupied by pigs. Everyone laughed at the matchmaker's sight while Fa Li and her mother-in-law went to pull Lonnie away from the house.

"Disgrace yourself and your job for shunning one of China's greatest heroes and her daughter who managed to resolve old feuds with the daughter of Shan Yu!" Haya boldly snapped at the matchmaker. "Which FYI, happens to be me!"

The matchmaker nodded her head weakly before fainting back in the mud. Soon, silence turned into clapping from the entire village while Haya went back to her friends. "Lonnie, will you please remove that _revolting_ Doll-Lonnie makeup off you?"

Mulan's daughter grinned and shamelessly wiped off her makeup with her sleeve, revealing her normal plain face, much to everyone's pleasure.

"Sorry I didn't make it, _Nainai_ ," she told her grandma sincerely. "But I'd rather be me."

Fa Li just smiled at her and hugged her: "That's the granddaughter I love, Lonnie."

Make a note that this was the first time Fa Li ever called her by her non-Chinese name.


	78. Restaurants and Reunion

Chapter 78: Restaurants and Reunion

 _The Miraculous Bistro, Paris, December 21st at 2:15pm in French time_

The Miraculous Bistro was one of the fanciest, most exceptional restaurants in all of Paris and had the reputation of not only being dedicated to Ladybug and Cat Noir, two of Paris' most beloved heroes, but for being built in the same area where the family of Ladybug's alter-ego, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, used to have their bakery. This was a good explanation for why Ladybug's parents were now the co-chefs of the restaurant.

Speaking of Ladybug and Cat Noir, or should we say Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste: once the villains they had dealt with were de-akumatized and their main arch-foe, Hawk Moth, was locked away in the Isle of the Lost, the heroes were able to retire from their superhero careers (while returning their Miraculous to their original guardian) and marry one another, going as far as running a very successful fashion design and modeling corporation and raising a son together.

Now the Agrestes were having a late brunch with the Modo family, the Phoebus family, the Trouillefou family, and their new guest from the Isle, Charles Frollo.

"Your designs for the spring collection were incredibly amazing, Marinette," Madeleine said as the waiters came in the bring over the choucroute, escargots, Caesar salad, and French toast dishes over to replace the empty butternut squash soup bowls.

"Why thanks!" Mrs. Agreste smiled happily. "You'd be surprised on how my former superhero career inspired me to design those ladybug motif scarves made of red lace."

"Remember that time when we were in school and you managed to win that hat designing competition, milady?" her husband asked, teasing her with the nickname he used to give her back in the old days.

"Of course! You wore my hat even though it had feathers, which you're allergic to. Ironically, it was on the same day we dealt with Mr. Pigeon!"

Everybody laughed before Adrien Agreste went on to talk about the Ladybug and Cat Noir conflict with the pigeon-based villain. Well...not everybody laughed. Charles was sitting at the end of the table, trying to avoid getting noticed as he ate his salad. Clearly he didn't expect that he'd be this uncomfortable, having brunch at a table with veteran French heroes talking about how they defeated their respective villains, while Captain Phoebus from the Parisian Police Department was giving him a cold look of suspicion from the other end of the table. Unlike Quasimodo, Madeleine, Esmeralda, the original gargoyles, and Clopin, who had been more than welcoming to Charles and instantly began to treat him like family, Phoebus was hardly convinced that Charles was nothing like his father, the judge who abused a poor hunchback, threw unfair genocidal propaganda on Gypsies, and nearly burned Paris just because he was chasing Esmeralda, Phoebus' wife, whom he had been lusting on.

Honestly, imagine what it must be like for you to have brunch with the kid of such a cruel man.

"Hey, Charles?" Mizuki Agreste, the son of Marinette and Adrien Agreste who was about Charles' age, asked curiously. "They say the akumatized villains had kids drafted into the Isle and raised by Hawk Moth. Do you know them?"

Charles nearly choked on one of his salad's croutons at the question and wanted to shrink from his seat when he saw nearly everybody's eyes on him.

"Their kids. Oh, well..." Charles sweated nervously has his memories did flashbacks of his interactions with Hawk Moth's foster children. Nora Belartiste, the Evillustrator's daughter, drew to life a flock of bats to chase Charles around until she used her artistic powers to make the flock turn into a puddle of paint covering him in return for him posting a nasty comment of her in the UNHOLY GAZETTE. He had a rivalry with Lady Wifi's daughter, Leidi Du Wifi, because her popular magazine VILLAINIUM was rivaling his UNHOLY GAZETTE at Dragon Hall. Back in first grade, the daughter of the Puppeteer, Marie Honette Chamack, made a Charles Frollo-doll and used it to make Charles act like a controlled puppet, fooling himself in front of everyone at Halloween. Back in 6th grade on Valentine's Day, he had a crush on Aspra Vulpine, the daughter of Volpina, but instead got a concussion from Aspra's flute when she disliked the fox drawing he drew in the card he had snuck in her locker. Antoine Bug, the son of Antibug, joined a bunch of jocks to bully Charles under the bleachers until Gabriel came to give them a piece of his knuckles. Stormy Weather's daughter, Corentine Duvent, intentionally blew him into a garbage bin when she presented her makeshift windmill in Darts and Crafts. And to conclude it all, Caron Du Parfum, the son of Princess Fragrance, pulled a prank on Charles last April's Fool Day by 'accidently' dropping on him a rotten fish and gasoline scented cologne, which made Charles stink for an entire week and get grounded by his father.

Overall? He had _nasty_ memories of them.

"Yeah, I never really interacted with them," he lied.

"You mean they bullied you," Esmeralda said from her cup of coffee in a tone that said 'I don't buy your story but I have sympathy for you'. "You just looked like you had a flashback."

"Was it _that_ obvious?" Charles sighed in defeat.

" _Very_."

"Then I admit I lied."

"How typical," Phoebus said drily as he wiped his mouth with his napkin.

"Dad!" Zephyr snapped at his father.

"Well, if you look at it this way," Clopin tried to ease up the mood by gleefully changing the topic, "at least now you don't have to deal with such bullies anymore!"

"Well, technically I have some issues with Chad Charming back in Auradon Prep..." Charles admitted.

"Honestly, after seeing him on TV with his parents, I've concluded that he's as snobby as Chloe," Mrs. Agreste muttered. "Then again, royalties tend to spoil their kids lately. No offense, Clopin."

"None taken," the Gypsy king said.

They continued eating the course until the waiters came to replace the dirty dishes with new ones full of Nutella covered crepes, fruit salad, an early galette des rois, chocolate éclairs, and a Black Forest cake.

"I bet you'll find the trinket in the galette again, Dad," Gitane told her father.

" _Évidemment_! I'm the Gypsy King, after all!" He and his daughter chuckled.

"I think you still don't understand the basic of the Kings' cake, Clopin." Quasimodo chuckled as he sliced the pastry and passed the slices around the table.

"Are you looking forward to the Festival of Fools, Charles?" Mizuki asked with his mouth full of dessert.

"Mizuki! What did I tell you about eating with your mouth full?" Mrs. Agreste scolded him.

"Yeah, I'll be watching it from the belltower," Charles said.

Somebody spit his or her drink somewhere at the table.

"You mean you're not going?" Mr. Agreste asked in shock.

"Not again," Gitane muttered. "Charlesy, we _talked_ about this!"

"Hey, I did say before that not everybody may accept me since I'm Frollo's son even if I tattooed the words 'not evil' all over me in red!" Charles protested.

"That's for sure," Phoebus said.

"My point exactly," Charles told the Captain while imitating the same dry tone the latter had used on him earlier. "You've been shooting the same kind of tone my father and his men have used on me whenever they treated me like dirt."

Quasimodo, Madeleine, and Esmeralda shot a disapproving glare at Phoebus, who stared to feel guilt in his bones.

"I think I lost my appetite," Charles said bitterly. He got up from his chair and immediately left the table.

"Charles, where are you going?" Avery asked before Charles opened the door and slammed it as he headed for the bitter cold. They worried about where he went, so as soon as they paid the bill, they went out to look for him. Fortunately, he only went far enough to go mope on one of the cold benches at the park right next to the Miraculous Bistro across the street. Quasimodo was the first to find him.

"I'm sorry for the misunderstanding back there," the hunchback said as he sat down next to the son of his old master. "Phoebus is still having a hard time breaking his old misjudging."

"Who can blame him?" Charles said. "I mean, it's not like people would just welcome every villain's kid with open arms and a red carpet once you get them out of the Isle. And worse part, I find out that my father abused me intentionally because the witch who murdered my gypsy and tried to get to me when I was a kid threatened to murder him and me."

"She framed him?" Quasimodo guessed.

"And obliviated my memory so that I actually believed that Frollo murdered Tradaria and never knew that I actually had a half-brother back on the Isle unable to go near me without spilling the truth. And if that's not the worst, it would be the fact that the rest of the VKs in Auradon and I can't do anything while our peers are stuck in the Isle. Now I feel bad for posting my nasty rumors in my newspaper just to please Frollo."

The gray-haired boy burst into tears. Quasimodo, being the good listener and kind-hearted person he is, gave a comforting hug to the child who was barely an inch and a half taller than him. The water from Charles' tears was now staining his shirt, but Quasimodo didn't mind.

"You know, almost twenty years ago, I was almost in a situation like you: lost my gypsy mother, raised by Frollo to believe the world was a cruel and prejudiced place, afraid to face the crowd at the Festival because of my appearance, met a cute and kind gypsy girl..." Quasimodo playful poked Charles on his stomach while teasing the boy about his obvious relationship with Gitane, making Charles pause in his tears to giggle from the ticklish gesture. "Could have stayed safely in my belltower in order to avoid luring Frollo into the Court of Miracles and capturing all the gypsies, but I still did it anyway and inadvertently saved Paris and finally gained respect despite my appearance."

"What's wrong with having some slight physical issues?" Charles frowned. "I mean, have you seen me? I have the old man's hair!"

They bursted into laughter.

"Mark my word, unholy demon of aging, you will pay for giving me the wrinkles!" Quasimodo imitated Frollo's tone as they got up and started making there way out of the park.

"God have mercy on me!" Charles acted like an old man looking for a cane. "Where the Hellfire did I put that old cane?"

"Well," Avery said once he, his mother, and Gitane saw the two of them coming back towards them as snow started to fall from the sky. "Things look a lot like they're going to get better."

 _Mulan's Village, December 21st at 9:15pm in Chinese time, while everyone is currently sleeping_

When Lonnie opened her eyes and realized that she had woken on the grass of her home's courtyard while the sky was illuminated with familiar ethereal lights, she knew that it could only mean one thing.

 _Dreamworld._

A sound of pickaxe was heard behind the gates. Lonnie got up and walked down the Dreamworld version of her house. Once she opened the gate, she was stunned to find not her village or a Dreamworld replica of it, but what seemed like Mount Everest losing pieces of itself as the pieces pulled themselves away and floated in the universe. Lonnie then felt like she was stung by an electric eel when she saw Artemis Nightmare standing in front of 'Mount Everest' and wacking his scepter at it, making the same noises and movements of a pickaxe as he dug deep enough to cut off another piece of 'Mount Everest' and have it float away into the never ending space.

"Ahem!" she coughed loudly.

He turned, his widening in surprise as his hands nearly threatened to drop his scepter into the universal abyss. "Lonnie?" he said in shock.

" _Lonnie_ has something she would like to say." He didn't budge as she walked towards and instantly slapped her hand on his cheek, nearly making his helmet poke him in the eye. " _Lying to me_? What the Hell were you thinking?"

"I swear on the River Styx to make me disappear from your dreams for good if I lie again, but I didn't know how else I could keep you out of harm." He rubbed his slapped cheek and groaned. "That's gonna leave a deserved mark."

"Look, it's sweet of you to worry about me and want to protect me." Lonnie didn't want to add that she didn't like Artemis swearing that he'd disappear from her dreams if he ever lied again -talk about extreme oaths. "But still, isn't trust a big part of a relationship? Why not just have simply told me that you're worried that some enemy of yours could use me against you rather than making up some lie about a fake Résistance...which honestly is a narcissistic, ego building excuse that doesn't go at all with the kind of person you are."

"A jerkass god?" Artemis raised an eyebrow. He watched as she raised her hand up and expected her to slap him again, reject him, and tell him she was through with him. Instead, he felt her soft skin stroking the cheek she had slapped.

"A jerkass god who cares very much about me, his friends, and others around him, but in a style that clearly indicates he still has much to learn on how to handle things properly," she said quietly.

Artemis frowned. "You're...forgiving me? Or are you trying to make me act bubbly, drop on my knees, and beg for forgiveness?"

Lonnie did a thinking pout before poking Artemis' nose and saying: "Maybe."

"For a hero's kid, there are times when you can be cruel." He smirked at her while she walked towards the edge of the platform they were standing on.

"So, who's dream is it about Mount Everest crumbling apart?" she asked.

"That's not a dream." Artemis waved his hand at the pieces of ripped mountains floating aimlessly while his other hand held onto his scepter. " _This_ is one of the many Dreamworld illusionary allusions of how the world was, currently is, or how it will be. Right now, it represents how the world was so solid until everything we knew has fallen into pieces because of some glitch we never knew should have been fixed and unless it's fixed, well, everything's destroyed."

"And what does you yanking Mount Everest with your scepter have to do with this illusionary allusion?"

"Because my lack of knowledge on how my father's Night Chronosphere works, I doomed everyone by giving Rebecca her Memorb. You should know since you and the rest of Auradon Prep were watching their lives with Proserpine's crystal as if they were part of a reality show."

 _Ouch_. Lonnie had forgotten about that detail: how Artemis was aware of almost everything via his powers and therefore he must have known that now her entire school and now the authorities knew that a mislocated antihero offspring had inadvertently caused the Villains Comet to approach sooner than expected.

"How come you didn't just not give Ruby her Memorb or told anyone what they shouldn't do to avoid bad consequences?" Lonnie asked as they continued to stare at the scenery before Artemis turned and now they were walking back to her garden. "Wouldn't that make things easier?"

"Well that's the thing about being a god, isn't it?" Artemis asked as he sat down on the bench under the magnolia tree. The flowers' petals changed from a cherry pink to a midnight blue color. "Mortals would have just gone into laziness, lack of skills, and without a clue of what grand things they could if gods or other immortals did everything for them. I mean, let's imagine if your ancestors told your mom what she had to do in order to be successful, whether it was to go meet the matchmaker or save China. That wouldn't look so grand if her hero resumé just said she followed orders from above rather than making her own decisions, being independent, and listen to her heart."

"Pretty wise remark," Lonnie said impressively as she sat down next to him. "I guess you're right: it wouldn't be great if nobody did anything and just relied on others to do it for them."

"I dislike the idea of having to force people to do something against their will even though I'm the child of a deceased evil goddess." Lonnie felt his hand stroking her soft hair, making her hazel eyes turn to look at his icy blue eyes. "I'd hate myself for life if I had to force you into doing something that was against your own nature and person..."

 _Or putting me in a situation where I'd be your fatal weakness_ , Lonnie realized. As much of a complex VK and god he was, Artemis made it rather clear that he had a heart. A heart he dedicate very much to her, a mortal he mostly encountered while she was unconscious.

She couldn't resist any longer but she hadn't done it in a long time, so she leaned in and kissed him. The old taste of lemonade and seawater from his lips came back to her, making her moan a bit in pleasure. She could feel Artemis being rather startled that she instantly kissed him, but he himself was rather enjoyed that he was back with her. He put his hands on her waist, pulling her closer enough to deepen their kiss. Lonnie could feel warmth increasing through her muscles as her dream knight savored her own taste and sampled every inch of her mouth he could reach with the tip of his tongue.

"Mmm," she moaned through the glued lips. His hands began to massage every inch of her waist in a tight, but pleasurable way. Her aroused moans increased when she felt his thumbs gently caress the bottom of her breasts.

"And to think your village matchmaker said you were too skinny," Artemis commented as he gently pulled away to give them some air to breathe. "No offense, but I think your locals have a rather sexist opinion on what makes a girl herself. By the way, aces on nearly toasting the old woman."

Lonnie giggled: "Thanks."

He smiled before leaning forward to kiss her neck, in the area not too far from her ear and left cheek, before going to give her more affectionate nips and kisses downward, causing Lonnie to gasp. Unlike some descriptions she had heard of men rushing through intimacy or 'enjoying' women like wolves on a pile of deer meat, Artemis did a rather interesting approach on her, in a way exploring her and avoiding any possibility of harming her...even by accident.

"Great Moon, how I missed you, Lonnie," Artemis groaned as he paused on his recent activity and went back to kissing her on the lips.

"Artemis..." She sighed. She felt his hands tug on a fabric she was wearing: some sort of see-through white lace nightrobe over a strapless, ivory colored slip that barely reached the end of her hips and didn't cover much of her cleavage. This was probably just another one of those Dreamworld tricks that she didn't care about anymore as her lover picked her up from the bench and placed her on a soft pile of fallen petals on the grass, making it appear like a flowery bed. The alicorn prince gently stripped his Asian beauty before doing the same on himself and soon, Lonnie could only remember falling into a bliss of joy cause by Artemis Nightmare's adoration of her before she woke up in the real world.

 _Mulan's Village, December 22nd at 5am in Chinese time_

"You look like you slept very well," Kory remarked when she and Lonnie cleaned up in the bathroom together in order to get ready to catch the train leaving for the ski resort. "Translation: you saw Dream Boy."

"Yep," Lonnie admitted. "But don't worry, the first thing that I did was slap him and ask him what the hell made him think lying was a good thing before I forgave him, reconciled with him, and made out."

Kory whistled in impressment. "Note to self, if we ever survive, remind me to have Artemis Nightmare give better courting advice to my dad Loki."


	79. Christmas

Chapter 79: Christmas

 _The Modo apartment in Notre Dame, December 25th, at 8am in French time_

"Isn't Charles up yet?" Quasimodo asked as he helped the gargoyles set up the breakfast table by the Christmas tree. "The Phoebus family might arrive anytime soon for our usual Christmas breakfast-and-presents tradition."

"If I had to guess, I'd say he sank into his bed...again," Lawrence snickered.

"Lawrence, please behave! It's Christmas!" Laverne chided.

"Sorry Mom."

"I'll go wake him up," Madeleine said. She dusted off her apron and put a pause on the hot cocoa in order to get out of the kitchen and climb up the wooden stairs that led to the bedrooms, which were located close enough to hear the loud bells whenever Quasimodo rung them. Fortunately, after ringing the bells for so many years, Quasimodo had practically become immune to the ringing a bell would usually vibrate through your brain, and it was an odd but lucky strike of luck that Madeleine got the immunity as well after marrying the hunchback of Notre Dame and the immunity was based along to their son Avery as well.

"Charles? Are you awake?" She called out gently as she knocked on the door of the guest room. No answer came, so she carefully opened it and stepped into the familiar warm yellow walled and white carpet room. Due to his old days of loneliness and passing an amount of his time outside bell ringing by doing arts and crafts, her husband had decorated almost every room in their apartment, including this room. On the painted walls, you could see the paintbrush strokes forming the shape of bees. Hanging from the ceiling was a mobile made of colorful stained glass crafted to look like sparrows, so when the morning sunlight coming from the window blinds' hit the mobile, it would illuminate the room with a rainbow of birds.

Madeleine then saw the queen size bed at the corner and smiled when she saw the guest in question all bundled up in the white and turquoise bed sheets and his head sinking into the fluffy pillow. Charles looked like he was sleeping in a giant marshmallow.

The chuckling woman walked over by the bedside and gently shook the shoulder that was sticking out from the pillows. "Charles, wake up," she said gently.

"No, five more hours..." he mumbled from his pillow. _I fluffed his pillow too much_ , Madeleine thought.

"C'mon, Charles," she gently urged. An idea then came to her. "You might miss the gypsy tarts."

That caught his sleepy attention. He got up drowsily, messy hair and maroon colored eyes still upset from having woken up.

"Gypsy tarts?" he asked childishly.

About fifteen minutes, they were all prepared when the Phoebus family came. Much to Charles' chagrin, he wouldn't see Gitane today because her father needed her to help with more preparations for the Festival of Fools. And since he wasn't used to gift sharing on Christmas back at the Isle of the Lost, he stayed a few five feet away from the merry French and just sat near the stairs while giving Petite Charlotte a bowl of milk and tying around her neck a cute red bow he had managed to snatch from the Christmas Tree.

"Don't you look fancy, Petite Charlotte," Charles commented as he rubbed the back of his pet goat.

"It's so sweet how you treat Petite Charlotte." Charles looked up to see Esmeralda in front of him with a wrapped Christmas present in her hands. She kneeled down and petted the little goat's head. "She almost reminds me of Djali."

"You mean your pet goat?" Charles remembered the stories his father told him about the 'gypsy witch and her familiar'. "How come she's not around?"

"Old age." Esmeralda shook her head sadly. "A couple of years after she gave birth to a couple kids that we sold at the county fair, she died of old age like most goats. Instead of giving her body away to a butcher, I did it the gypsy way and cremated her."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Charles grabbed Petite Charlotte and hugged her, nervous about the idea of dealing with the little goat's death.

"Here, this is for you." Esmeralda handed him the package she was holding. This really affected Charles emotionally.

"I...didn't think I was going to get presents this year," he admitted awkwardly as he took the box. "And I sort of didn't think of purchasing any..."

"Not everything has to be big and expensive. It's the thought that counts."

Charles was rather stunned that he was hearing this sort of wisdom and actually getting a Christmas present from the woman his father had harassed. He slowly opened his present (even letting Petite Charlotte chew on the gift wrap) and found a very charming maroon gypsy scarf with golden glittery embroidery of dancing ferrets, shooting stars, and a crescent moon. Almost like a remake of her original scarf...which Frollo still had the ashes of it.

"It's amazing...I love it!" Charles stared in admiration at the scarf. "Thank you, Mrs. Phoebus!"

Esmeralda smiled back at him and put the scarf around his neck. It felt so comfortable. "It does match your eyes," she said, making him blush.

"Hey, Charles! Are you coming or not?" Hubert called out from the Christmas tree. "You still got a pile of presents with your name on it!"

Charles definetly felt the warmth inside of him increasing as he joined them, making it his best Christmas ever.

 _Tung Shao Ski Resort, 3pm in Chinese Time_

"Loser!" Haya shouted at Macy as they surfed down the snowy slope in their snowboards.

"Keep dreaming! I've been snow surfing with my brothers since I was six!" Macy shouted as she zigzagged through the snow.

" _Puh-lease!_ I've been doing this as soon as I could walk!" Haya snorted.

Lonnie's parents had managed to make it in time to get their daughter, her friends, and Cassie in the morning and catch the train taking them straight to the ski resort just in time for lunch. As soon as they had eaten, Haya and Macy couldn't resist grabbing their snowboards and competing against one another in the slopes.

"Do be careful, girls!" Mulan called out worryingly from the lodge's outdoor parlor.

"It's hopeless, Mrs. Fa Li," Kory said amusingly while she watched with Lonnie and Cassie the little show on the slopes. "They've been doing these 'playful' snow sports ever since they met. Try talking safety with these two is like losing the lottery."

"Didn't they at least get injured _once_?" Cassie asked right when Haya did a cartwheel while continuing to snow surf. "OK, this _cannot_ be safe!"

"The only time an injury occurred was when Yzma had the idiocy to try to candidate for Miss Ice Queen and Haya accidently crash-landed her bobsleigh on the old hag."

"I'd better fetch them before somebody begins to sue us." Shang grabbed his pair of skis and immediately began catching up to the not-technically reckless girls.

"Man, I wished I brought Carmine with me," Kory sighed as she walked away from the parlor rail and sat at the wooden picnic table where they were drinking hot cocoa. "She loves to play in the snow. If only global airlines weren't so freaked out by having VK pets onboard, we wouldn't have to leave our pets back in Auradon with Gabriel." She, along with Macy and Haya, were unable to take Carmine, McPrince, and Havak with them, so they had to leave them with Gabriel Legume to babysit them.

"Tell me about it," Cassie muttered as she drank her hot cocoa. "I can't even ride a plane because of the 'no-smoking' rule."

"So how the heck do you get to your school all the way in the USA from China?" Kory asked Mushu's daughter.

"She morphs into a Chinese Dragon and flies across the ocean," Mulan sighed. "Which gave us at least two health insurance bills at every holiday since flying overseas gives her a cold."

"Because guardians don't have to pay bills," Lonnie added. "Talk about financial protection to the family."

Mulan gave a small look at her daughter that gently cautioned her to not make some remarks as such. Mulan had been lucky enough to have Mushu as her guardian even though none of her ancestors wanted him to take that job, and therefore Lonnie had to be grateful and _doubly-lucky_ that her ancestors agreed to let her have Cassie Mushu as her own guardian (Mushu kept complaining that his 'bosses' liked his kid more than him).

It was a good thing that, based on her old issues with the matchmaker, Mulan hadn't turned Lonnie's own failure into something to nag about during their ski trip. As a matter of fact, Mulan was rather glad that her daughter had almost barbecued the nasty woman.

Shang finally came back with Macy and Haya. "Good thing I caught these two before they accidently slipped of the end of the slope and into the mountain range."

"Was not!" Haya glared at him.

"You nearly slipped off your board," Macy joked. "I could have sworn you squealed."

"Uh oh, incoming..." Kory said in a warning tone.

"I did _not_ squeal!" Haya said indignantly.

" _You squeal, you squeal! You're sloppier than a fat seal_!" Macy taunted in a singsong voice as she hopped off the parlor and onto the snow.

"Oh, that's it!" Haya jumped into the snow, grabbed as much of it as she could and balled it into her palms before tossing it right at Macy's face. The Scottish girl cried in shock as she landed butt first on the white powdered ground. Lonnie and her parents couldn't resist laughing as well at the scene.

"Ha! Hope you signed up for a spa session, Gingerlocks, because you're in for a series for a facial makeover!" Haya warned as she prepared to make another snowball until she saw a giant ball of snow rolling down at her, flattening her before she could scream.

"I've been building snow boulders to make snowmen with my brothers for ages, so get used to it Hawkgirl!"

"Oh you _did not just call me Hawkgirl!_ "

"Honestly, how long have these two been best friends?" Mulan asked as she and the others continued to laugh at the scene of Macbeth and Shan Yu's respective daughters battling one another in the snow in a 'friendly manner'.

"About eight or nine years ago, Macy and her brothers snuck out of their castle because Lady Macbeth was boring them with their weekend lessons on how to get away with regicide." Kory shrugged. "They snuck into the Huns' territory right when they were celebrating both Haya's birthday and her Hunting Passover- it's like a coming of age ceremony for when Hun kids successfully catch a prey on their first time hunting. Honestly, most of the Huns weren't surprised that the Beth siblings had come because the Huns invite almost everybody over to their celebrations.

"Anyway, there was a point where a bunch of activities are held for Hun kids and young guests, and one Hun kid I forgot his name dared to tick off Macy by claiming she wouldn't dare to break one of her princessy manicures or overly overdone hair in a mud race."

"Macy _in mud_?" Lonnie asked in disbelief. "I mean, I've seen how she turns her purse into a wacking stick whenever Gabriel says something wrong, but a _mud race?_ "

"You'd be surprised how mud racing is a common sport on the Isle, especially when the commoners or warriors like to press onto the egos of the pompous ones. But Macy didn't mind getting messy- honestly, her room was worse back home than it is now in Auradon Prep, so she went straight into the mud and didn't even stop once to straighten her hair during the race. Sure, the Hun kid beat her due to his natural Hun speed, but he took back what he said earlier when he saw her fully covered in mud and not bothering to ask for a towel. Honestly, the Huns went as far as to call her 'Muddy Macy' for years."

"How does the Muddy Macy story relate to how they met?" Cassie asked as Haya buried Macy's face into the snow.

"Well the next day at school, Haya kinda teased Macy by throwing her a mud ball and calling her by her nickname before she unexpectedly got herself into a playful mud fight with her. Teacher pulled them aside, Lady Macbeth complained to Shan Yu about his daughter getting her daughter dirty, and next thing you know it's the dirty fighting that led to them being best friends." Kory waved her hand in the air. "Haya Yu and Macy Beth, Bad Girls and Best Friends Extraordinaire!"

Just as she finished, Haya crashed face first into the snow and got pinned to the ground as Macy put her foot on the former's back.

"Is this a loser which I see before me?" Macy joked as she put herself in a victory pose with her nose up in the air. "The sun's laurel toward my hand?"

"OK, you win!" Haya coughed and begged. "But please don't do any sunshine versions of your dad's Shakespearean quotations!"

"I think that's enough snow fighting for one day," Shang said as he helped Haya get up. "Who's up for some ice skating?"

 _Later, at the lodge's indoor ice-skating rink_

"Honestly, guys, I shouldn't," Kory said as Macy and Haya tried pushing her towards the rink. "I haven't done it in a long time..."

"C'mon! It will be fun!" Macy insisted.

"Ok, I'll try! But don't push me!" The daughter of Loki got in the rink, and before she knew it, she went from simple skating to professional ice-skating. Some of the other skaters made room for her to skate and watch her move like a fairy on ice.

"Wow, she's good!" Cassie said as they relaxed by the bleachers. "Maybe she should be in the ice-skating competition if Auradon Prep ever makes it to the Pride Games."

"What are the Pride Games?" Haya asked in confusion.

"It was something that actually began twenty years ago, precisely when the United States of Auradon and the new U.N were formed and the villains were sent to the Isle of The Lost." Mulan explained. "To commemorate their victory on finally gaining global peace and the signed treaties on Pride Rock, all the world leaders agreed that every four years, international schools would compete in a series of academic, athletic, and other skilled events between one another while co-habiting together during these events."

"I'm not sure they get it, Mom," Lonnie said for her friends who still looked rather blank.

"Ok, let's go like this," Cassie said. "International schools from all over the world first try to be among the top selected four- because the Pride Games involve only four schools- by working hard on their academic records, winning many sporting events, and other school activities that are worth getting you points in the selection. You get it so far?"

Macy and Haya nodded.

"Then, when the four schools are chosen, the Board in charge of the Pride Games pulls two school names out of a bowl and these two schools have to face one another during the Pride Games, same applies for the other two."

"So it's almost like the Hunger Games' reaping, except each side's finalist doesn't compete with the other," Macy said.

"Yeah, because the other thing is that aside from competing with one another, the schools actually have to live with one another during the entire Pride Games...which usually last during the entire second half of the second semester. It's part of the entire 'celebrate working together and make new friends' experience."

"That sounds rather intense." Haya frowned.

"Maybe, but Auradon Prep has been doing those Pride Games ever since the games first started," Lonnie said. "Almost 98% of the trophies Coach Jenkins polishes in the school's trophy room come from the games. Auradon Prep has always been among the top four."

"So has St. Luther Rose Academy," Cassie added.

"You mean your school...the school full of... _reformees_ , have been doing the Pride Games?" Haya asked while struggling to hide the disgust in her voice.

"Reformee?" Mulan asked, unfamiliar about the term.

"Uh, 'reformee' is the villains' commonly used term for 'antihero' since a majority of antiheroes are actually reformed villains," Macy explained. Mulan nodded, her eyes making it clear to Lonnie that she did not like that obvious racist term.

"Yeah, we do because the _reformees_ are said to be the 'yin-yang of good and evil'." Cassie air-quoted. "Like Auradon Prep, St Luther's has had quite the reputation of being highly competitive and winning every single Pride Games they took part in, but the two schools never ended up being selected to compete with another despite such high records."

"Gosh, I can't imagine what it would be like," Macy said. "I mean, first villains and antiheroes have more personal issues than with heroes, and now with the problem on the Isle, Ben is planning to draft all the VKs from the Isle into Auradon. Imagine..."

A crash and a scream were heard from the rink, interrupting their conversation. They looked and gasped when they saw Kory lying on the ice and painfully holding her leg.

"Get a medic!" A female skater shouted in Chinese. "I think her leg's broken!"

"KORY!" Without blinking, Lonnie and her friends and father rushed on the ice and skated their way towards her. The nearby skaters began to crowd around her.

"Everyone, make space!" Shang ordered. They made way for him. He helped Kory sit up, but this only made her yelp in pain. "What happened?" he asked her.

"I don't know!" she bit her lip. "I was just skating and I tripped for no reason!"

"Oy, it was like blade just came off her skate!" a male skater said.

Shang examined Kory's leg. "Judging by the pressure points' reaction, I'd say you either broke your leg or sprained your ankle. You shouldn't skate so fast."

"I don't think it was her speed, Dad," Lonnie said. She pointed at the skate the injured leg was wearing: the male skater had been correct to say that it was like the blade came off the skate, because it looked like it had been cut off from the stanchion. "The cut looks like somebody sawed through it. Somebody tried to get Kory hurt intentionally!"


	80. Festival Of Fools and Attacks

Chapter 80: Festival of Fools and Attacks

 _Notre Dame, January 6th, at 10am in French time_

"Yeah, I'll be careful Ben," Charles said through the phone. "I hope Mal makes it out alright. Sure, I'll try to enjoy the festival as much as I can. Ok, see you next Monday when classes start again." He hung up the phone and put it back on the counter.

"Is everything alright?" Avery asked while and his father put on their matching teal blue coats.

"Does Mal getting attacked while she sleeps sound alright to you?" Charles asked drily.

"What happened?" Madeleine gasped as she made sure she had everything in her purse.

"It's rather weird, but Ben said he woke up early in the morning like at 2:50am in Auradon time when he heard screaming coming from the room Mal was staying in. They found her laying on her stomach with her bed covered with blood stains and her mark of villainy turned grey."

"You mean the two crossing black and purple dragons forming a heart she has on her right forearm?" Avery asked.

"Yep." Charles put on his new cherished scarf and the black fleece jacket Madeleine and Quasimodo had given him for Christmas. His right elbow pained him a bit, reminding him of the mark of villainy he had right below the elbow. _Wait till they find out that your mark isn't naturally grey_ , a voice taunted at the back of his head. _Shut up,_ he scolded the annoying voice.

"Who'd be dumb enough to attack the daughter of Maleficent?" Avery asked. Quasimodo locked the door of their apartment and soon the Modos and Charles were going down the stairs of the belltower to join the Festival Of Fools outside.

"Unfortunately, thanks to all the anti-obviously evil principles every VK is taught at Dragon Hall, I'm clueless," Charles groaned.

"The anti-obviously evil principles?" They approached the cathedral's big door.

"You know, it's the 'we suspect this guy of being responsible for this because he's such a delinquent in public so we're gonna arrests, but mistake! Turns out that he was innocent and the real culprit was actually the other who pretended to be nice to you and offer you cupcakes at work.' The same way nobody suspected Prince Hans of being a power-hungry villain because he looked so good-looking and acted nice to everyone, instead they prefer to suspect the queen because she has ice magic or the Duke of Weselton because he makes it obvious he wants to exploit trading with the kingdom."

"Or like in horror movies when the obvious suspect is never guilty." Avery guessed.

"Exactly. And if someone actually managed to target the kid of 'Madam Mistress of Blasphemous Evil'..."

"I thought Maleficent's nickname was Mistress of All Evil," Madeleine said.

"Yeah...I still have a hard time getting my dad's name-calling antics out of my head," Charles sighed in frustration. "But you get the idea."

"Well, how about we take a break from worrying and go right on into enjoying the Festival of Fools?" Quasimodo suggested. His family and Charles agreed in excitement and soon the doors were open to reveal the colorful lively festival with almost all of Paris rushing over to celebrate and confetti showering from above.

"C'mon, let's go!" Avery grabbed Charles and dragged him into the festivities.

"Hang on! I'm still young..."

Crowd: _Once again, it's here!_

 _Time to take break from work_

 _And shut down all traffic._

 _Everyone's here, from thief to musketeer!_

 _Farmers, pause your fieldwork_

 _And join the holiday so terrific!_

 _Come and join the Feast...Of..._

"FOOLS!" Clopin and Gitane appeared at the lead of the traditional opening parade, Clopin in his traditional festival harlequin outfit and Gitane in a short dancing gypsy dress made of dark night blue fabric that twirled amazingly as she danced and beat the tambourine in rhythm with her father's singing.

Clopin: _Once again, a party's thrown in this town!_

 _Once again, Paris goes all upside down!_

 _Every peasant's a royal and every royal's a clown!_

 _Once again, it's Topsy Turvy day!_

"Don't you dare miss!" Avery shouted from the stocks when he and Charles took part in the pie-throwing contest as the festival went on.

"Sure...LET THEM EAT CAKE!" Charles instantly threw the pie into Avery's face. The latter instantly began licking the frosting on his face. "Vanilla flavor. Yum!" His parents and Charles as they watched him trying to lick of the rest of his creamed face.

Clopin: _It's the day our inner bad is unleashed._

 _It's the day we mock the pig and shock the priest._

 _Everything is topsy_ - _turvy at the Feast of Fools._

Clopin and Gitane were amusing a bunch of children with mock puppets of Frollo and Quasimodo, and right when Gitane's Quasimodo puppet was about to hit Clopin's Frollo puppet, the Frollo puppet got its head chewed up by Petite Charlotte. Charles pulled his goat away and sheepishly grinned nervously at the people staring at him until Clopin bursted out into laughter and gave him a friendly slap on the back.

Crowd: _Topsy Turvy_

Clopin: _Everything is upsy-daisy_

Crowd: _Topsy Turvy_

Clopin: _Everyone is acting crazy._

 _I've got rust for gold and weeds for bouquet._

 _That's the way on Topsy Turvy Day._

"Music challenge!" A gypsy from the band platform threw his violin at the crowd. "Somebody play something!" Charles caught the violin and excitement began to fill him as he began playing a dark gypsy music tune similar to the one Gitane had heard him sing. People seemed to like his music playing, for they were clapping their hands in rhythm and little children decided to dance together right by Charles.

"Feeling miserable?" Gitane teased him as she danced and banged her tambourine next to him.

"Dream on," Charles defied her by making his gypsy music so vibrant that other people joined into dancing with the duo's music.

"Surprisingly, for a half-dark gypsy born from Frollo and a light gypsy like your kid, Clopin, these two make an actually pretty fitting couple," Esmeralda told Clopin as they watched the festive scene.

"Eh, gypsy royalties. What you gonna do?" Clopin shrugged teasingly.

The merrymaking went on as they had fun at the rollercoaster and rides the Champs-Élysées were holding for this very occasion, and headed to the top of the Eiffel Tower to have a group shot. The day's fun ended with rides on the Ferris wheel, two on each car, while watching the firework display coming from the Eiffel Tower under the starry night.

"This has been one of the best days in my life," Charles said while he and Gitane admired the fireworks from the car they were riding on.

"Definetly beats watching the fireworks from the belltower now, do it?" Gitane smirked at her boyfriend.

"OK, so I was an idiot," he said in defeat. "What do I owe you?"

Gitane smirked at him and pointed at the car's ceiling. "Grow some mistletoe."

"You want me to grow a poisonous plants?" Charles frowned at her before he gave in to her puppy pout and used his gypsy magic to create a small, growing mistletoe hanging above their heads. "What do you want mist...mmm," Charles got cut off from his question when Gitane pulled him into a kiss right under the green plant. After engaging into such a passionate embrace, they pulled away.

"Herbal lesson, Charlesy: outside the Isle, people kiss under the mistletoe," Gitane told him in triumph.

" _Mon dieu,_ I still have much to learn," Charles muttered enamored, his cheeks still blushing. He and Gitane laughed together as they continued to watch the fireworks.

 _Tung Shao Ski Resort, 5pm in Chinese Time_

"Come on, Ron, you can't be serious!" Cassie said on her cell phone while they were spending time in the lounge room of the lodge. "Look, I know we have to earn the points for the Pride Games, but I happen to be in a country hit by a blizzard! OK, fine! I'll leave as soon as possible!" She hung up her phone and cussed in Mandarin.

"Everything alright?" Lonnie asked as she continued to play babyfoot with Haya, who was dominating her ten to four.

"No, the head cheerleader wants the squad to get into early training because cheer-offs are now part of the Pride Games this year and she won't hear one bit of running late even though we got a blizzard right now!" Cassie grumbled as she shoved her phone into her pocket.

"Wouldn't it be best if you waited at least until the blizzards calm down?" Shang lifted his head up from the newspaper he was reading.

"Or better, call Captain Bossy and tell her she's not your slave driver," Haya suggested smugly, which got her distracted and gave Lonnie a shot at winning.

"Ha!"

"Hey, I had my back turned!" Haya protested.

"It's called backstabbing," Lonnie replied.

"OK, now you're getting into my VK sense of style." Haya raised an eyebrow.

"I hate to break it to you, Haya, but my squad's Captain Bossy has more advantages than I do: filthy rich wealth, strong connections, access to almost any kind of resource, and personally trained by a group of martial artists stronger than an army. I got none of those!"

"Am I missing something?" Haya and Lonnie paused from their game while their hot drinks were brought over. "Your dad is a Chinese Dragon guardian sidekick to the one woman-army who took down five hundred and ninety three Huns just by dropping an avalanche on them! How hard can it be to deal with a bratty teen out of a million?" She spotted the tray of hot drinks and took it after making sure that the Fa Li family and Cassie got their cups. "I'm gonna bring Macy and Kory's drinks back at the room. Be back in a bit," she said as she made her way to the elevator.

"Please do check that Kory is following the doctor's orders and resting in bed!" Mulan called out.

Thanks to the ice skating rink accident that occurred back on Christmas, Kory had been sentenced to walk around with a cast and rest her poor leg in bed for the rest of their stay at the lodge. Right now Macy was keeping her company and cheering her up with a game of Uno.

"Chinese Dragon guardian sidekick," Cassie repeated to herself while Lonnie sat down and enjoyed her cup of hot oolong tea. "Can't believe how accurate that sounds. To think that almost everybody at St Luther's is descended from sidekicks or ex-evil henchmen."

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing," Lonnie noted.

"Think about it: you got a school for baddies, a school for heroes, and a school for the in-between, which unlike what most people believe, has a bigger ratio than the former two combined. You're not seeing how weird it sounds?"

"Believe me, I've seen a lot of weird and now everytime I see or hear new weird things, they just feel like déjà." Lonnie shrugged.

"Like the time you had Maleficent's daughter magic your hair?" Shang asked skeptically, recalling how he had initially disapproved of his daughter using magic from a witch-in-training to change her hair rather than go to the hairstylist.

"Dad, we already talked about this a gazillion times," Lonnie groaned. "Some people aren't meant to follow certain hairy traditions."

Mulan chuckled a bit at her daughter's comment.

"I gotta admit, you seriously look a lot better with that new hairdo than with that black 1950s hairstyle you used to have. This one definetly brings out your eyes, Miss Man Junior."

A crash followed by three different screams was heard echoing through the walls of the lodge.

"My friends!" Lonnie realized.

"Let's go!" Shang dropped his newspaper. The Chinese hurried up the stairs to the fourth floor, where they found the door of their room destroyed and, much to their horror, the three VK girls in pained states. Macy was curled on the floor and tending to her bleeding neck, Kory's cast was broken and her leg bleeding, and Haya looked like she had been forced to try a pretzel bed and was badly lying on the couch, her chest equally bleeding.

"They got attacked!" Lonnie realized.

"But I thought only those happening to the children on the Isle were happening!" Mulan said.

A distant crash was heard. Cassie noticed a figure running away as fast as it could away from the scene. "HEY!" Cassie ran after the figure and so did Lonnie.

"Girls, get back here!" Shang ordered.

"Take them to the doctor!" Lonnie shouted back. She and Cassie ran after the mysterious suspect through a series of hallways until the suspect decided to jump off the window at the end of the first hall corridor.

"Hold on!" Cassie morphed in her red dragon form (since she walked around in human size, her dragon size was big enough to carry people) and lifted Lonnie as they flew at high speed straight through the window and into the cold snow. Thankfully the blizzard had cleared up, but there was no sign of the suspect. Only footprints that seemed to stop strangely ten feet away from the lodge were seen.

"Gone!" Lonnie groaned while Cassie morphed back.

"How the heck does a suspect just run off like that?" Cassie asked. "At almost every inch of the resort, you can see everything from here!"

"And the worst part is that Haya, Macy, and Kory were attacked! I'm sure that the only reason that suspect would do such a thing because of their marks of villainy!"

"But if all the villains can't leave the Isle and now the VKs outside of it are being targeted, it could mean that whoever's responsible is powerful enough to go in and out despite the barrier being around." Cassie realized before she started making her way back to the lodge. "I'd better get back to St. Luther's. If someone is trying to get rid of villains or something, who knows what they could attempt on antiheroes?"

Lonnie bent down to have a closer look at the footprints and noticed something odd on them: something in the shoe sole form seemed to have a mark on it. T A mark depicting a six-pointed star slashing its way through an orb designed to look like a planet.

"Why does that star ring a bell?" Lonnie asked out loud as she took a picture of the footprint with her phone and headed back to the lodge.

 _Later, at the resort's hospital_

"This is getting out of hand," Ben said. Lonnie had contacted him through Skype to inform him about the recent attacks and showed him Kory, Macy, and Haya being held in a hospital room, with a doctor tending Macy's neck with ice, Kory whimpering as she got a new cast that bugged her more than the last one, and Haya being in a temporary coma because the stolen mark of villainy used to be on her chest. "I mean, first Mal gets attacked while she's sleeping, I get calls like Audrey finding Jay nearly drowning in her pool stained with blood, Doug and his dwarf family find Evie unconscious by their apple tree from eating some drugged apple that got her unconscious enough to not feel any mark stolen, and Xaos nearly getting killed in the ski gondola he was riding in. And now this!"

"That means seven of the VKs got attacked. That matches the number Nightmare Moon said." Mentioning the late goddess made Lonnie think of Artemis. "But how come Gabriel, Carlos, and Charles weren't attacked?"

"I did some checking by having them come back early from their vacations," Ben explained, "and according to Merlin, they were unknowingly attacked years ago, Charles being the first. Guess it explains why they were the only VKs we knew who had grey-colored marks."

Lonnie stiffened at the realization. If it turned out, whoever was responsible had been _very_ busy for the last twenty years or so.

"Ben, I also found this odd footprint." Lonnie put her phone in front of her tablet screen so that Ben could see the photo she had taken. "I don't know why but it rings the déjà vu bell."

"Keep that photo and hold on. You're going to have to show it to the Villainous Council," Ben said as he tapped on to his computer.

"Wait, what?" Lonnie nearly choked.

"I'm putting you online with the Villainous Council. You have to tell Shan Yu what happened to Haya and show that photo you took."

"Ben, are you nuts? Who am I to talk to the Council? That's your job as king, not mine! And how do you expect me, Mulan's daughter, to tell Shan Yu that his daughter got attacked?"

"You're Haya's friend, he'll have to understand that. If he can handle dealing with the daughter of Catwoman and Batman without even killing her for being an antihero offspring, he'll surely be able to have a...talk with the offspring of the woman who defeated him."

"You're not making things any better," Lonnie muttered. Ben wouldn't hear a word of it and next thing you knew, Lonnie found herself on a Skype chat with the Villainous Council in one of their meeting rooms. To her surprise, the teens from the mission (excluding Ruby) and Artemis were in there as well, looking up from a board containing ten pictures of fifteen descendants (judging by the number, they must be the unaffected VKs). Artemis definetly looked the most stunned of the teens, which made Lonnie bite her lip a bit to remind herself that this was a business call and not a desperate call to her dream boyfriend.

"Is this the Villainous Council?" She could feel her hands shaking a bit as they held the tablet.

"Unfortunately it's them," Sean Abyss said. The adults in the room grimaced at his comment. "And who are you?"

"Lonnie," was the only answer she gave.

"Oh, I do remember you!" Lord Shen said in bitter realization. "My daughter Sharon failed her attempt to murder you and the rest of the heroic Chinese offspring, daughter of Mulan." The Council and the teens murmured in shock while Artemis remained stoic and acted indifferent.

 _Pretend you don't know me for your own safety!_ His eyes told her. _What the heck are you doing?_

 _Ben made me do this, don't blame me!_ Her eyes snapped.

"Do give me a good reason to not shut off this computer," Shan Yu snarled, making Lonnie gulped on how he still sounded humiliated about being defeated by her mother and now having to converse with his foe's child. Not to mention that now Lonnie understood from which angry Hun Haya had inherited her part-abrasive nature from.

"It's about Haya..." She began. "She...she got attacked with Kory and Macy."

Horrified gasps were heard throughout the room, many shocked by how it sounded impossible that Shan Yu's daughter would become a victim. Speaking of the Hun leader, his snarl disappeared and turned into a devastated face that was unable to hide his fear of his daughter being harmed.

"What happened?" Ingwer Hexe asked as she rushed closer to the computer in order to hear well. Her friends joined in as well.

"They got attacked in our room at the ski lodge we were staying at..."

"What the Hell were they doing with you in a ski lodge?" Cruella asked skeptically.

" **THEY WERE SPENDING THE HOLIDAY WITH ME BECAUSE THEY'RE MY FRIENDS!** " Lonnie screamed, making almost all the villains cringe away in fear. " **IS IT TOO MUCH TO ASK YOU TO LET ME FINISH?** "

"No, ma'am," Captain Hook whimpered. Among the crowd of villains, Artemis was clearly smirking proudly at his secret lover.

"As I was saying," Lonnie said now firmly, "they got attacked in the room at the lodge we were staying at, and since Kory got her leg injured while skating, that was her reason for being in the room with Macy keeping her company while we were all downstairs at the lounge room. Haya had gone upstairs to bring them drinks and that's when we heard the screams and crash and we found them..."

"How are they?" Macbeth asked, sounded panicked.

"Macy's getting ice on her neck, Kory's got a new cast, and Haya, well..." Lonnie flipped the screen mode so that they Council could see the three VK girls in their current states.

"Macy! Oh, my poor lassie!" Macbeth whimpered.

"Hi, dad..." Macy mumbled as she continued to pat her neck with her pack of ice.

"How bad is your leg, Kory?" Forkjølelse asked.

"How does 'what do you think' sound to you?" Kory asked drily.

"Just asking."

Although they could not see her, Lonnie could see the reaction of the villains towards the victims. She could even see Shan Yu looking beyond devastated when he saw that not even being outside of the Isle could protect his only child from being attacked and he just got the proof by seeing Haya, his precious daughter, lying on a hospital bed while her entire chest was covered in bandage wraps and she was currently in a coma.

"Mal, Jay, Evie, and Xaos also got attacked," Lonnie said as she switched the screen mode so that they could see her again. "I got the news from Ben earlier."

"But that means the seven targets in Auradon got targeted!" Jafar gasped.

"Great, seven down and fifteen more to go," Proserpine muttered. "And we got five possible moles that we don't know about!"

"Speaking of moles, the attacker left this odd clue." Lonnie pulled up the picture of the footprint on her phone and showed it on the screen. "Does this mean anything to you?"

Some villains shook their heads until Ingwer Hexe let out a gasp.

"What is it?" Sean asked.

"The pattern of the outsole and flew points...it matches the exact design of the trademark designs of the Dragon Hall jeerleading team sneakers!" Ingwer said. "Darcy showed it to me once. And that six pointed star..."

"And if we're correct," Sean filled in for her, "there's only _one_ jeerleader among the other ten unaffected ten descendants and only _one_ would possibly have such a star on her mark!"

There was a pause before everyone gasped.

"MINUIT SPARKLE!"

 _Sunday, January 12th, at midnight_

Jane was unable to sleep at all, so she took a stroll down the hallways of the Auradon Prep dorms.

With a certain war coming, villainous descendants getting mercilessly attacked, and the world feeling threatened, not many students had returned to school until they were absolutely certain that everything was safe again.

She was just glad that her sweetie Carlos didn't get as painfully damaged as most of the others.

Just as she walked down the stairs and near the area where the boys' dorms were, she heard banging and muffling coming from down the hall. Soon she saw a door bursting open and two silhouettes were pinning down whom she recognized as Charles Frollo.

He instantly spotted her. "JANE, GET..." His scream dissolved away when one of the silhouettes sprayed something on him and he fell unconscious on the carpeted floor.

"What...what did you do to him?" Jane stammered, so petrified that she couldn't run away from the silhouette that approached her.

"Just a little something you won't be able to tell anyone," it said in a male voice as it sprayed something on her, overfilling her nostrils in a nasty strong odor of peppermint that knocked her out.

"Who said that a little sweetness was bad for you when you're evil?" the second silhouette said in a female voice. The two shadows snickered as they grabbed Jane and Charles and took them away.

 _Monday, January 13th, at dawn_

"I just thought she'd be at school by now," Lonnie said. She was standing by one of the trees just outside of campus and making a phone call at St Luther Rose Academy in order to check on Cassie, who hadn't called her for like a week. And since Cassie didn't seem to be answering, Lonnie tried calling Cassie's dormmate.

"Cassie wasn't seen at all at school along with thirteen other students," the dormmate said through the phone. "Our student body president tried asking their parents, but they all said that they haven't seen their kids since they all left back for school. Even the head cheerleader is getting worried: aside Cassie, two other cheerleaders are absent."

"You sure they aren't like out in town? Middleton is quite a hangout place." Lonnie's fingers began to fidget in worry.

"As much as she is goofy, Cassie is one of the most responsible dormmates and students I've ever encountered at St Luther's," Cassie's dormmate said. "If she knew she was going to stay out late, she would have called me to make sure that I don't lock her out by accident or she would have let the school administration that she might be running late to class."

"I see. Well, thanks anyway. Sorry I bothered you."

"No problem. Good luck."

 _Good luck, my lucky foot!_ Lonnie thought as she hung up her phone and paced anxiously on the green grass. Cassie was missing! Her childhood friend and guardian-in-training was missing along with other antiheroic offspring just barely a week after the seven designated VKs from Auradon got attacked. This couldn't be a coincidence!

She looked up at the sky colorfully painted by dawn. In the distance, a purple dot seemed to increase its size by a microscopic inch at every couple minute. The Villains Comet was approaching very fast, and thanks to the latest mishaps, Doomsday would be today!

Her phone rang, giving her an unknown number from an unknown caller. Without hesitating, she answered, hoping to find an answer on Cassie's whereabouts. "Hello?"

"If I were you, I'd wear something else other than that hot pink magenta parka jacket," an unknown female voice said on the phone. "You got it at Club Banana? Thought so. Believe me, I dig it when they sell cool coats like this, but I'd hate to see such a nice outfit be ruined where we're going?"

"Who is this?" Lonnie frowned.

"Turn at 11 o'clock and check out the cool girl standing by her black Ducati 999 and waving at ya." Lonnie obeyed and soon found herself staring at a female dressed in a badass black biker's outfit. Even her black helmet and black shades were hiding her face as she waved at Lonnie.

"So who are you?" Lonnie asked again.

"You can call me RJ for now, but that's not important. You and I both have a thing in common and that's our friends being kidnapped. Fortunately, St Luther's is crazy enough to implant homing devices on the students, so I know where you and I can find them," the girl said from her phone.

"They're on the Isle, aren't they?" Lonnie said.

"Yup, and you and I both know that we aren't very heroic or very evil, so we're good to cross the barrier without unleashing the alarm and save our friends. The only sitch is that you can't tell your peeps back in your school about it."

"When do we leave?" She could see the biker girl smirk.

"As soon as you change into something you won't regret dirtying, because we are going to the dirties place on the planet."


	81. Reality Show, Episode 9

Chapter 81: Reality Show, Episode 9

 _"Anybody came up with some good weapons to help us?" Florence Poison Isley asked while she and Manny Colchis were hiding with Tara Sam Scam in her father's basement laboratory in order to avoid becoming the next preys._

"Oh, Manny..." Macy whimpered as she saw her boyfriend hiding with the daughters of Poison Ivy and Tim Scam in order to hopelessly avoid danger. So far, since most students have become frightened to go back to Auradon Prep while a mysterious evil was rising, not many people had come to see the main events at the auditorium through the crystal ball except the Fairy Godmother, Merlin, Ben, Mal, Evie, Jay, Carlos, Macy, Kory, Haya, Xaos, Gabriel, Audrey, Aaricia, Gitane, Avery, and the gargoyles. For some reason, Charles, Jane, and Lonnie were unusually late and Finius still hadn't called to say if he was returning.

 _"Skin boiling decoctions, knockout gas made of bull carcass, and my mother's dagger," Manny said as he went through the hidden pockets he had in his wool sweater. "And...I got nothing else."_

 _"What about you, T.S?" Flo asked Tara Sam. "Any good homemade or stolen gadgets?"_

 _"Uh, let me see," the sea-foam eyed brunette said as she scavenged her purse and whatever she was wearing on her outfit. "I got an expandable lasso earphones set," she waved some blue earphones in a lasso style, "the XSFD-Xtreme Satellite and Frequency Detector mobile phone that my dad built based out of those WHOOP X-Powders," she pulled a dark blue I-Phone designed to match her sleeveless leather jacket, "my all-functional cow skin belts," she pointed at the two belts that were holding up her blue mini-shorts, "my freeze ray titanium revolver 1001," she pulled out a silver-and-cyan revolver, "my dad's Scamlar tubes and my titanium heel drills that I usually all hide in my shoes..." she tapped her heels on the floor and revealed small compartments hidden in her boot's high heels. Small tubes full of silver metal liquid and retractable drills could be seen."_

"You know, these heels would be good for me whenever I have a makeup on the go problem," Audrey remarked.

 _"And this is all I got," Tara Sam said as she put away her gadgets. "What about you, Flo?"_

 _"Honestly, I could make giant Venus Flytraps grow wherever I want, but if the big bad decides to attack us somewhere where not even the smallest seed can grow, we're screwed."_

 _The door leading to the basement laboratory opened but nobody was heard coming down._

"This can't be good," Carlos muttered.

 _"D...Dad? Is that you?" Tara Sam asked nervously. Nobody answered. Something dropped down the stairs and bounced like a ball towards them, revealing its black surface and the weird red slash smile on it._

 _"Why didn't I see this coming?" Flo's eyes widened._

 _The ball exploded, unleashing a ghastly yellow gas on them. The three teens coughed and soon Tara Sam and Manny fell to the ground, laughing like maniacs until they ran out of breath and became unconscious._

 _"So much for me being immune to poisons and toxic gases," Flo muttered._

 _"That makes two of us." A dark figure hit Florence in the head, making the nature-loving evil progeny fall as unconscious as the other two. The Auradon audience couldn't see much of the aggressor as she dragged the teens away._

"That makes three..." Audrey gulped.

"You think it was Minuit Sparkle?" Jay asked Mal. "Behind the attacks, behind all this?"

"No," Mal admitted. "Minuit may be crafty and capable of ripping dimensional fabrics of reality so that she can move wherever she wants and avoid taking public transportation, but she's more into jeerleading than concocting a master plan to take over the world."

"Wait. Now that we're talking about it, isn't she..." Carlos began.

 _"Get out!" Moonlight Glimmer was shooting a blast of cyan colored magic at the silhouette that had invaded her Spartan room. The daughter of Starlight Glimmer was defending herself quite well and managed to send her attacker crashing into her wooden wardrobe, giving her time to rush towards the window and open it in order to reach the fire escape._

 _"SAY CHEESE!" A familiar voice cackled and a beam of light shot straight at Moonlight. Fortunately, the purple sunshades that Moonlight always wore on her managed to reflect the beam back at the second attacker, giving Moonlight enough time to get into the fire escape and climb her way up to the roof. The audience watched as she ran faster than Carlos did when Dude first chased him, only she was running on the roofs of the communist neighborhood she lived in and ran as fast as she could towards the Northern District, where she also ran into Otrera Beldam, the daughter of the Other Mother, and Diego Harkness, the son of Captain Boomerang._

 _"Oy, what brings ya here, mate?" Diego asked in his thick Australian accent._

 _"Some creepy scaled people attacked me in my bedroom!" Moonlight said._

 _"You got attacked too?" Otrera's blue button eyes widened in shock. "I thought I was going nuts, but I got weird intruders who managed to go through my mother's insane security without even triggering the booby trap spider webs. One of them actually managed to freak out the rats!"_

 _"If that wasn't enough! Some green-haired male attacked me in me makeshift bungalow while me and my old man were sharpening our boomerangs!" Diego held out one of his boomerangs._

 _"You know the place we can hide for now, right?" Moonlight said._

 _"Yeah, I got the message as well," Otrera said._

 _"Aye." Diego nodded._

 _"Then let's go."_

 _They rushed through the streets of the Northern District, ignoring the locals that were mobbing around in order to save their hides and avoiding any possible Hun in sight. Finally, after five minutes of running, they arrived in front of the Fiske Estate, where they found Ingwer, Proserpine, Fork, and Sean planning to ring the bell._

 _"What are you guys doing here?" Ingwer frowned until the trio dragged them away from the door._

 _"We'll talk later!" Otrera pulled out two human hand-sized sewing needles and tapped them together, shooting out threads that moved like tentacles and made their way down towards the moat like a thread slide. The quartet was initially confused as to why they were following them down towards the mucky moat until the water suddenly got a small, square opening._

 _"Diego, cut the slide!" Otrera ordered Diego, who was the last one to slide down. He did so using one of his boomerangs, and soon the teenagers found themselves falling down into the opening (that closed afterwards) and sliding down until they landed in a barely well-lit room._

 _"About time, you came," François Tremaine muttered as he drank his cup of tea._

 _"OK, what is going?" Sean demanded. Just as he asked that, they noticed Buffy Killigan and Martin Fiske chaining and locking the dark entrance they came from, placed bear traps, mouse traps, and golf balls triggered to explode at the mere contact. Not even a mere mouse could go through them._

 _"We're almost there," Martin said. He and Buffy joined the others as they centered themselves in the room. He clapped his hands and the ground they were standing on formed a circle that brought them down layers under the surface like an elevator until they arrived in an underground replica of Monkey Fist's living room, only with dozens of doors round the walls._

 _"What the heck?" Fork gasped as they got off the platform before it went back up, leaving them alone in this underground place._

 _"Welcome to the Fiske Bunker," Martin said smugly. He waved his hand at the room. "An exact replica of my castle with rooms and supplies that could last about twenty people twenty years to live here."_

 _"Wow," Proserpine gasped as she knelt down to feel the ground. "We're at least ten feet under your castle's catacombs and barely a couple away from the nearest volcanic tunnel."_

 _"Did you make this just for us to hide from the attackers?" Moonlight sat down at one of the lounge chairs. A warm fire cracked in the underground fireplace._

 _"At first it was meant to be a safe house in case DNAmy and Amelia came chasing my father and I...again," Martin admitted in embarrassment, "but desperate times calls for desperate measures."_

 _"Talk about desperate!" Ingwer muttered as she dusted off the shelved books with her fingers. "We just found out from the Huns that Manny Colchis, Tara Sam Scam, and Florence Poison Isley were just kidnapped!"_

 _"Kidnapped? I thought whoever they was were after our marks!" Diego gasped. "Not our bodies!"_

 _"That's just what the Huns told us!"_

 _"And you trust them?" The hidden teens stared at Martin Fiske, who had bitterly asked the question. "You're really gonna believe what they say after Shan Yu lied to everyone?"_

Haya was tightening her fist. Clearly she didn't like the son of Monkey Fist calling her people liars.

 _"Monkey Boy still hasn't gotten over the fact that his 'Tough Tigress' left him," Buffy said while air-quoting the nickname he had given Ruby ever since they first dated._

 _"Oy, that's harsh, mate." Diego tapped Martin's shoulder in comfort. "Why didn't you just make the Sheila stay with ya?"_

 _"I may be evil, but I'm British," Martin said as he sat down on a chair. "Forcing a woman to be mine is beneath me."_

 _"And that's coming from_ l'homme _who murdered his own mother at the age of twelve," François said. An unexpected punch from a monkey fist punched right through the chair he was relaxing on, barely punching on his left ear. The son of Lady Tremaine grew pale when he saw how furious the son of Monkey Fist looked at him. "Uh...anyone ever tell you that you have a hidden Indian accent under the British one whenever you get angry?" He chuckled nervously._

 _"Yes, the same way people learn_ _ **very**_ _quickly why I'm born from the man who found it_ _ **very**_ _fitting to switch his name from Monty Fiske to Monkey Fist, and surprisingly my middle name is Montgomery," Martin said drily. "So please, I pray that you watch your mouth. Otherwise I won't hesitate to kick you out of this bunker."_

 _François nodded and got his butt off the chair in order to get as far away from Martin as possible._

 _"You seriously think this is the time to argue?" Ingwer demanded. "We got some lunatic after us and your solution is to just hide here?"_

 _"Oh, he would have willingly knocked down the enemy with monkey kung fu a month and a half ago," Buffy told Ingwer, "until the Council made him lose his girlfriend. Frankly, can you blame the guy for still loathing Shan Yu because Tough Tigress had to leave Martin here a letter saying 'I've been lied about my identity. For your own good, I must leave you'."_

 _"Oy, she left you a letter?" Diego grimaced. "My old man says that a letter from your lost love is their way of sayin' they're planning suicide!" Martin said nothing, dropped on the chair he had brutally holed with his fist, buried his face in his hands..._

 _"No! You will NOT cry again!" Buffy slapped the back of Martin's head, making him jolt upward. "I was fine to shoot your tissue balls into the fireplace with my golf club, but once is enough!"_

 _The walls began to shake all of a sudden. The teens began to stare up in fright._

"What is that?" Evie gasped.

 _"Is that an earthquake?" Moonlight asked. Things began to shake harder, which could mean something was making its way towards them. Cracks began to appear on the ceiling and water was leaking._

 _"Uh, guys?" Proserpine said nervously. "I think that something is trying to dig its way towards the bunker..."_

 _"If it turns out that we now have to deal with giants..." François said as he held his cane, ready for combat._

 _Now the ground began to move and dirty water was threatening to drown them if it weren't for the dirt mass that scooped them upward back into the surface. They screamed as they landed onto the castle bridge._

 _"Is everyone alright?" Otrera asked. She spit out some water from her mouth._

 _"Not you guys, that's for sure," a voice said._

 _The Auradon audience couldn't see who was talking to them, but they could see the ten teens looking at a shadow looming over them and screaming for help when a gigantic hand reached and grabbed for them._

"Aside from the fact that I noticed villains failing in math because of the apocalypse," Aaricia commented, "I can conclude that we're all doomed."

"I've sent the ships to collect the villains in case Artemis manages to break the barrier," Ben said. "Hopefully there's still time..."

"Hardly." Xaos looked at his hourglass watch. "We might have only until the middle of the day for the Villains Comet to approach and block the sun!"

"What's the worst that can happen?" Gabriel muttered.

"Hey, guys?" Haya switched the topic. "How come Lonnie is still not here?"


	82. Odd Team On The Isle

Chapter 82: Odd Team On The Isle

A group of five Huns (adults and teens) where heading towards the area near the Kraken Trail where Narissa's fountain was located in order to see if they could weaken the barrier from there.

"Artemis Nightmare said the barrier had underground antennas, which maintains it scientifically," Kholtas, who was among the group, said. "We dig our way down, smash the antenna located in this area, and we can at least weaken the barrier scientifically."

"I hate science," one of the Huns said.

Just as he said that, the water pouring in the fountain seemed to agitate. When they turned to look at it, the water stopped its usual cascading flow, instead reversing it rapidly, and something sprung out of the fountain like a geyser. A motorcycle with two female figures riding it had just come out and was now making its way towards the direction of the Kraken Trail that led to the city.

"And I hate magic," Kholtas said as she pulled out her walkie-talkie to contact Shan Yu.

"How the heck did you know that Narissa's fountain still worked as a portal?" Lonnie asked RJ as she sat on her seat behind RJ while the latter was riding her bike at full speed. The cold rapid air they encountered helped them dry off.

"With all the weird friends you make at St Luther's, you learn so many things!" RJ shouted above the wind. "So I ended up finding out that there are two portals who could still take you to Narissa's fountain, even after it got relocated to the Isle. The only problem is that the two portals, from NYC to the one barely a mile away from your school, were in man holes."

Lonnie grimaced at the memory of RJ driving them through a man hole that widened itself just to let them in. "At least now it explains how Minuit could have snuck out of the Isle without using her powers and without going through the barrier," she said.

"I'm not sure I'm following you..."

"PEDESTRIAN!"

RJ looked forward and saw somebody standing in mid road. She hit the brakes on the Ducati and managed to park it before it could hit the person by six inches.

"Where is a red light on this Isle when you need one?" RJ thrust her hands in the air as she complained. Lonnie jumped off the vehicle to help out the pedestrian.

"Sorry..." The pedestrian mumbled. Lonnie gasped when she recognized the pedestrian's brown hair, voice, and adamantium nails.

"Ruby? Is that you?" she asked.

"Do I know you?" Great Scott, it was Ruby! But what a mess she was in! Her hair had grown to pass an inch of her shoulders and was all tangled up, the clothes she had worn back at the Everfree Sector had lost their sparkles and were now ragged up and dirty. Her skin had spider webs dangling, her eyes had dark marks of sleep depravation, and her nails looked like she had been scratching rocks. She almost began to look as skinny as Charles did when he first came to Auradon Prep.

"One cleanup crisis coming right up!" RJ twisted her bike's left handle, making the passenger seat Lonnie had been riding on pop open and reveal a hidden compartment. "OK, I got wipes, a toothbrush, ten toothpaste tubes, five hairbrushes, all the necessary body cosmetics, five sets of spare clothes raging from undergarments to jackets, a battery-charged microwave, and ten packs of ramen noodles."

"You go around with such supplies in your ride?" Lonnie asked while RJ helped Ruby clean herself up with the supplies.

"Honestly, try living with your two quintetrillionaire parents that you barely see every year and you'll understand." RJ removed her helmet, revealing a mass of shoulder-length ginger golden colored hair with three pointy bangs sticking out just in front of her forehead and three strands of hair sticking out from her hairy mass. She also removed her shades, revealing sharp hazel colored eyes. "Honestly, if we weren't of different nationalities and hair color, people could have mistaken us for sisters because of our eye color."

"Please, no. I've had my share of bad surprises." Ruby said as she put on a black leather jumpsuit, black wedge sneakers with white shoelaces, and a black cloak designed like a bat wing.

"I thought you were disgusted by your antihero lineage." Lonnie frowned with a puzzled look on her face when she realized that Ruby had just dressed up in a mix of her respective parent's vigilante styles.

"First off, the last month stuck in a cave like an old hermit has made me meditate on my problems and traumatize me with actual visits from all the dead people in my family that motivated me to get out of the cave. And yes, me getting out involved singing."

RJ and Lonnie stared at one another in confusion at Ruby's statement of singing.

"And second, just who the hell are you and how do you..." Ruby ended up answering her own question. "Wait...I've seen you before...You're Artemis Nightmare's sweetheart!" Ruby snapped her fingers in realization.

"Yeah, I am," Lonnie said quietly as they shook hands, remembering the fact that Artemis had shown Ruby the special tree created to look like Lonnie he grew back in his garden before the Everfree Sector exploded.

"The daughter of Mulan in love with Nightmare Moon's son?" RJ snorted as she heated a box of ramen noodles for herself. "And they say I'm crazy."

"You're Fa Mulan and Li Shang's daughter?" Lonnie nodded at Ruby's question. "So how come you're wearing Hun clothes?"

Ruby waved at the clothes Lonnie had stolen from Haya's closet after RJ had told her to change into clothes she wouldn't mind getting dirty before infiltrating into the Isle: a Hun army jacket split in green and cream colors and fur on the hood, a black army shirt, sickly green cargo pants, and leather combat boots. Attached to her back was a wrapped weapon Lonnie knew her mother and Haya would murder if they found out she had taken it right under their noses.

"Look, we were in a rush and I didn't have any clothes that I wanted to destroy!" Lonnie said in a frustrated tone.

"Like you were trying to imitate your mom, except instead of infiltrating the Chinese army as a fake soldier, you're infiltrating the Isle of the Lost as a fake Hun," RJ said as she ate her noodles. Lonnie glared at her, slightly noticing that something seemed to be moving in RJ's hair and left pocket and that it wasn't coming from the wind."

"Speaking of which, how did you guys come into the Isle and why are you here?" Ruby asked. Without any delay, Lonnie told her the whole story, including the entire Auradon Prep watching everything that occurred on the Isle from Proserpine's crystal ball, the VKs outside of the Isle getting attacked during the Christmas break, Minuit's footprint that Lonnie had found in the snow, and the strange disappearance of descendants of antiheroes, one of them being Cassie Mushu. Ruby listened and didn't interrupt, even though she grimaced unpleasantly when she learned that Auradon had been watching them as if their lives were not at stake but a TV show.

"You found Minuit's footprint?" Ruby clenched her fists in frustration. "I can't believe I fell for it!"

"What do you mean?" RJ frowned.

"The attacks increasing as soon as the suicidal mission began, almost every creature in the forest trying to kill me because someone ordered them to, the Battle of the Bands, the issue with the barrier and the border...It was Penna's doing!"

"Voldemort's daughter? How could you tell?" Lonnie asked.

"Think about it! It...it makes sense! She's 116 years old and has been in Dragon Hall ever since it was built, which could have given her time to analyze the students and figure out which of the villainous descendants had the strongest, most powerful marks of villainy that she could somehow extract just in time for the Villains Comet to come, which is today. That could also explain why I saw her in the Battle of the Bands: she was perhaps observing the contestants to see how powerful they were when competitive.

"Somehow, she managed to create a spell or weapon that she uses to extract the essence-filled marks, but in order to keep her charade of being a mere bully dominating the Isle's habitants due to her lineage, she just sends her minions to do the dirty work for her."

"So that's why I saw Minuit's footprint at the lodge," Lonnie said. "She was getting the marks of Haya, Macy, and Kory for Penna and probably did the same thing to the others unless an other minion did. And so was the guy Mulciber you accidently murdered!" Ruby glared at her for reminding her.

"Mulciber...I heard that name before," RJ said thoughtfully. "I know a student back at school whose dead dad was a fake Death Eater and apparently, the Mulciber guy used to be part of Voldemort's army."

"And by hitting the pause button on the attacks after my 'murder' and replaying them while I was on the mission, Penna could have succeeded into stirring a panic that would have put me to blame, hoping to get me out of the way," Ruby said quietly.

"Why would she want you out of the way?" RJ asked.

"Because I'm a reformee, specifically an antihero offspring that was born from a hero and a villain, and if there's one thing that Penna De Mort despises more than heroes and villains getting a chance of happiness and love while she couldn't because of her father, it's antiheroes, who seemed to be much luckier than the other two groups."

"And with the insane power of destruction she'd get from collecting all those essences and amplifying it with the Villains Comet, she could be capable of destroying everyone she hates or made her feel unwanted because of Voldemort or so that she could finally get her own happily ever after while no one else does!" Lonnie realized.

"That's twisted," RJ commented as she brought down the passenger seat and twisted her right handle, making a sidecar come out, connected to her motorcycle. "The sooner you save your friend," RJ pointed at Lonnie, "the sooner you save the world," she pointed at Ruby, "and the sooner _I_ save my classmates, the sooner we get the Hell out of this place."

"What makes you think it's my job to be the savior?" Ruby demanded.

"Hasn't it seemed rather...possible to you?" Lonnie suggested to Ruby. "After all, you are the first antihero to have put her foot here."

"And that's coming from the Hun-disguised daughter of the lady who saved a country."

Lonnie frowned in defeat while Ruby smiled smugly a facial expression that said 'Touché'.

"Well, I'm a reformee, and like most of us say 'we save each other, not the world'," RJ said as she got on her driving seat while Lonnie went back on her passenger seat and Ruby on the sidecar. "I'm only here to get my classmates, and that's that." She pressed a button on her dashboard and a green screen depicting a map of the Isle of the Lost and fourteen red beeping dots. "The kidnapped reformees...are in Mount Vesuvius? Like literally in the volcano?"

"That's where Penna De Mort's lair is," Ruby said. "But Pompeii was just an outer layer of it. If we want to get to it, we actually have to go inside Mount Vesuvius, where her castle is hidden."

"But how are we gonna get there? It took you and your friends almost an entire month just to get there!" Lonnie said.

"I might have an idea," RJ said. "Ruby, do you know where you could find the biggest cannon in the area?"

 _Later_

"WILL YOU GET THAT CANNON, ALREADY?" Monkey Fist screamed at Lord Shen while the latter's minions finally placed his giant cannon in front of the border's gates. When the teenagers were kidnapped by a 'giant' and went into the Infinite Forest of Evil, the Villainous Council and the despaired parents found out that the border's gates were permanently sealed like cement and no one could climb up or down it without getting kicked out by the sentient bricks.

"Hey, take it easy!" Lord Shen protested once his minions dispersed.

"TAKE IT EASY! MY SON JUST GOT KIDNAPPED!"

"My poor Sean..." Ursula whimpered. "What kind of mother am I?"

"This is all your fault!" Monkey Fist pointed at Shan Yu in accusation.

"My fault that your son got kidnapped?" Shan Yu demanded in a threatening tone. Soon, all the villains began to bicker like children, unable to notice the motorcycle that had just parked an alley away and the three girls hiding behind a tank just a few feet away from the cannon.

"Talk about immature," RJ commented as she spotted the adults while Ruby led her and Lonnie towards the cannon without getting spotted.

"So here's the cannon. What's your plan?" Ruby asked.

"Blasting us above the border and straight at Vesuvius." Lonnie and Ruby looked at RJ as if she were crazy, making the latter groan before she explained. "The last two people who got blasted from that cannon got sent as far as the next province. With the precise amount of explosives, we should be able to fly our way there in less than an hour."

"And if we fall?" Lonnie asked until RJ pulled out purse-sized jetpacks and handed one to each of them. "Never mind."

"I got one explosive covered." RJ also pulled out a jar full of rainbow glitter that was labeled TROLL GLITTER.

"Troll glitter?" Ruby asked in disbelief.

"Believe me, they overdose it and you end up with the disco neon lights version of a nuke. Now I just need some cannon powder..."

"Haya said they usually hold the powder barrel stocks near the gun reserve." Lonnie looked around and spotted right next to the bickering villains an outdoor reserve of guns with many barrels labeled in red 'CAUTION! HUN POWDER! EXTREMELY EXPLOSIVE! KEEP AWAY FROM CHILDREN UNDER FIVE!'

"I didn't know Huns kept powder away from kindergartens," Ruby muttered.

"So how are we gonna get one of these barrels without getting noticed?" Lonnie realized that Ruby and RJ were staring at her. "Oh, no..."

"You have a BFF back in Auradon whose a Hun, she told you stuff about how Huns behave, and you stole her clothes to infiltrate here." RJ pulled out a facial paint kit out of her jacket. "You might as well pretend to be one."

A few appliances later, Lonnie was walking out there in her disguise (RJ made sure that every visible inch of Lonnie's skin was covered in grey paint to match the skin of a Hun) in the same gruff, stiff style she had seen Haya walk around, along with the scowling glare. One of the things that separated Lonnie and her mother when it came to their one-shot disguises was that Mulan had no idea how to act like a man in a war camp while Lonnie, on the other hand, managed to learn and observe how the Huns act through the things she had seen on the reality TV show and her friendship with Haya. Ruby and RJ watched from behind the cannon as she managed to pass the villains towards the gun reserve. There, Lonnie took a barrel (fortunately, Huns used medium-sized barrels for their cannon powder), carried it in her arms, and began to make her way.

"Soldier! Who gave you permission to take this barrel!"

Drat! Shan Yu had spotted her! Fortunately, Lonnie learned how to lie easily.

"My squad leader ordered me to bring some powder, sir," she lied, trying to imitate the Hun attitude. "She wants us to use explosives for the barrier problem."

"Ugh, will Kholtas ever learn to follow my orders?" Shan Yu muttered before barking at Lonnie. "Well don't just stand there! Get that barrel to your squad!"

"Yes, sir!" Lonnie ran as fast as she could away from the villains and once their eyes were no longer focused on her, she rushed to join the others by the cannon.

"Wow, you were epic!" Ruby gave her a 'great' sign using hand gesture.

RJ punched open a trapdoor on the cannon and began pouring the Hun powder and Troll glitter together. The two powders, once mixed together, began to mix nervously like firecrackers as RJ closed the trapdoor. RJ then proceeded to use the cannon's lift to level up the cannon so that it was aimed to shoot right above the border.

"Quick question: what are the odds that we might explode once this thing is lit up?" Ruby asked.

"None." RJ grabbed a long rope and attached it to the trunion. "The last time I catapulted myself using dynamite and Troll glitter saved me money on a plane flight but accidently sent me from Middleton to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa while I was still alive. The only consequences were waiting a week until I could get a ride back to the USA and a bad case of glitter staining your hair. OK, we're good to go. Get inside the cannon. Once you're in there and I light the rope, pull me in."

They nodded. After making sure that nobody was seeing them, Ruby pushed up Lonnie so that she could get in it and the latter pulled up the former. RJ managed to light the rope: in thirty seconds, they'd be blasted.

"Grab my hands!" Ruby held out her hands and helped RJ climb up. Fifteen more seconds.

"Hey, what are you doing to my cannon?" Lord Shen demanded.

"They're coming!" RJ exclaimed. "Hurry!"

Ten more seconds.

"I'm trying! You're just heavy!" Ruby complained.

Five more seconds and the villains were approaching.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Lonnie grabbed Ruby's waist and violently pulled her and RJ into the cannon. It blasted into a wild explosion of smoke and colorful glitter. Such an explosion destroyed the cannon and sent the girls flying above the border and the Infinite Forest of Evil like a missile blast made of glitter.

"HOLY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTT!" Ruby was heard screaming as the trio blasted away while the villains just stared, confused at what just happened.

"This is gonna cost me an eternity of visits at the psychiatrist," Cruella De Vil muttered.


	83. Reality Show, Episode 91

Chapter 83: Reality Show, Episode 9.1

 _"Ow."_

 _The kidnapped VKs woke up from their unconsciousness and found themselves trapped inside a large holding cell centered in the middle of a vacant round room made of nothing but black marble and dominating pillars._

 _"That's going to leave a mark," Sean muttered as he got up and rubbed his head. Meanwhile, Diego was frantically shaking the bars of their cells._

 _"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" he screamed. "I'M CLAUSTROPHOBIC!"_

 _"Get a hold of yourself, you primitive kangaroo!" Tara Sam rolled her eyes. She pulled out her XSFD mobile phone. "I'm going to see if I can locate where the..."_

 _"Who the Hell are these guys?" Florence pointed at the other side of the holding cell. All the imprisoned villainous descendants turned to see three figures bound, gagged, and kneeling on the ground._

"OH, NO!" Mal recognized the three figures.

"JANE!" the Fairy Godmother cried in terror, seeing that her daughter was imprisoned on the Isle of the Lost. "NOT MY DAUGTHER!"

"And Eleanor and Finius are also there!" Macy said while Ben called the authorities and urged them to hurry. "But why?"

 _"Hold on for a moment." Moonlight and Otrera rushed to untie them. They gasped for air once their gags were removed._

 _"Wait, I've seen you before!" Buffy pointed at Jane, who flinched when Killigan's daughter mentioned her. "You're the Fairy Godmother's daughter! The one who bust that hole on the barrier back at the coronation!"_

 _"Uh, yes..." Jane cringed nervously._

 _"Lass, who the HELL told you to make yourself physically attractive with a wand? Couldn't you have gone with experimental plastic surgery or something like any decent person?" Buffy said in a scolding voice until François hit the mad golfer on the head with his cane._

 _"Buffy, just because we're in a cell doesn't mean we have to go all barbaric." François gently patted Jane's shoulder in comfort. "Sorry about that."_

 _Jane nodded meekly._

 _"So what_ _ **are**_ _you guys doing here?" Sean asked. "I mean, the barrier is keeping...goodies like you from stepping in as well as keeping baddies in...more than usual."_

 _"We were kidnapped," Finius said. He and Eleanor were both in ragged clothing, barefoot, with messy hair and tired eyes, and dirty skin as if they had been near a chimney for a year. "Back on November 3rd, I was substituting Charles in his studio while he went to have lunch with our friends, but as soon as I was done with reporting the day's news, I sniffed something weird and the next thing I knew, everything was black and I found myself in this cage. Eleanor here had a similar situation, only she was alone cleaning up in the girls' bathroom when she got captured."_

 _"That's almost exactly what happened to me!" Jane exclaimed. "I got knocked out by a weird odor when I saw two strangers kidnapping Charles last night..."_

"THEY TOOK CHARLES TOO?" Gitane and Avery exclaimed in horror.

 _"Seven VKs in Auradon get attacked based on what I heard," François pondered as he sat down cross-legged on the floor._

 _"We get kidnapped by people who seem like déjà vu," Ingwer added. She then asked Jane, Eleanor, and Finius. "Just a piece of curiosity, but we're you three knocked out by something that smelled like peppermint."_

 _"A rather foul peppermint odor, if you ask me," Eleanor mumbled._

 _"No one asked you," Manny said. His comment made Finius chuckle and Eleanor shut up._

 _"Peppermint knockout gas..." Ingwer had her own realization while Proserpine put an index finger on Eleanor's forehead and brought it back to face her nostrils so that she could sniff the black stuff she got._

 _"Volcanic ash..." Her eyes widened in horror. "WE'RE IN BIG TROUBLE!"_

 _Just as she said that, a mechanical creek was heard. The room's ceiling opened into a circular opening and the prisoners found themselves being pulled upward while still inside their cages. Once it was pulled into the above, the cage stopped and the floor closed back._

"God..." Ben gasped.

 _"We...Are...So doomed," Moonlight choked out._

 _They were centered inside the world's greatest room, which was probably big enough to put the Great Canyon in fifty Olympic stadiums. The glass ceiling was held up by pillars that looked like a molehill being invaded by basilisks leading an army of snakes, the walls were made of sharp emerald and blue crystal shards that reflected everything in different angles, and the floor looked like a giant green and silver mosaic of a slithering snake._

 _But the scariest parts? The cathedral sized windows, made of very clean glass, showed a landscape of an underground volcanic nightmarish city with diverse monsters and other vile creatures howling, roaring, and building what looked like a rising army._

 _"We're inside Mt Vesuvius..." Manny gasped before turning at Finius and Eleanor. "That's why Proserpine found volcanic ash on you! We're inside Mt Vesuvius!"_

 _"Ew! What is_ _ **that**_ _?" Jane exclaimed. She pointed at the horror that was trapping the cage at the center of the room like an isle in the middle of the ocean: a giant mass of black liquid even ickier than ink and tar combined that was circulating around the cell in a ring formation. The waters themselves sounded like hissing as they boiled violently._

 _François had a closer look from the cage and noticed so many odd, blurry colored things 'swimming' in it. "Those colors...They're the stolen marks of villainy of every attacked villainous descendant!" He realized in horror._

 _"How can you tell?" Jane asked._

 _"See that one right over there?" François pointed at one passing by. "That's the mark of villainy owned by Gothy Gothel."_

 _"So all the descendants who got attacked and stolen of their marks...The marks are all in here?" Ingwer choked when she sniffed the odor of the liquid._

 _"Don't worry. All of your marks will soon be in there."_

 _Torches burned on the walls, revealing a large throne facing the holding cell from the other side of the room. The throne was large enough to resemble a geyser explosion, only it was carved and designed to look like snakes were forming it. Sitting on the steps and slouching on the throne were very familiar figures._

 _"I see that you're quite hypnotized by my castle's interior design," Penna chuckled as she quit the slouching position and sat more upstraight on her throne._

 _"We also see that you fooled everyone, mate!" Diego spat as he shook the bars of the cage. "Ya fooled the anti-obviously evil principles!"_

 _"The what now?" Jane frowned._

 _"You ever heard of how Prince Hans fooled everyone into thinking he wasn't the bad guy with his good looks and words and framed Queen Elsa because everyone thought she was a witch?" Otrera asked. "The anti-obviously evil principles is basically fooling people into believing the publicly bad person is the real culprit while the real bad guy is the one faking to be nice. We learn that in Advanced Manipulation Therapy."_

 _"Oh." Jane now understood._

 _"Will you please explain to me why the Fairy Godmother's Muggle of a daughter is in my house?" Penna demanded at two of her six minions sitting by her throne's steps. To everyone's shock, they looked like cleaner clones of Eleanor and Finius. "And for crying out loud, take off these disguises! Your appearance repulses me!"_

 _"Hey! That's not nice!" Eleanor said insulted._

 _"Thanks," Penna said smugly as if Eleanor had just told her a compliment. As she said that, the Finius and Eleanor imposters got up and got themselves covered by green smoke that disappeared, revealing their true forms. The fake Finius revealed himself to be a seventeen-year-old humanoid boy with heather colored skin, long pointy ears with a loop earring on the left one, yellow eyes with crimson irises, messy mauve and stone blue hair tied up in a ponytail, a grey chef hat, a grey cooking jacket with its three golden buttons designed like a spoon, a knife, and a fork, cedar brown plants, eggplant sandals revealing his sharp purple fingernails, a dagger attached on his left leg, and a brown belt with an orange clasp depicting a head being pierced by a fork and a knife._

 _"Dårlig Bergen," Ingwer muttered. "I knew something was familiar about peppermint knockout gas!"_

"Who is he?" Gitane asked.

"The son of the Bergen Chef," Gabriel said angrily.

"I've heard of her," F.G said. "She used to cook Trolls for the Bergens back when they used to believe that eating a Troll was the only way to happiness."

"Yeah, and when she got banished after the Trolls escaped, she tried to use them to get revenge on the Bergen royalty," Evie said. "My mom told me so."

 _"You know me so well, Hexe," Dårlig said mockingly. The Eleanor imposter walked next to him. She, on the other hand, was a sixteen-year-old purple skinned girl with silver eyes, green and blue punk hair that rose up from her head like a crazy wildfire, an orangey yellow cropped top that she wore above a black tank top, a teal miniskirt that was held by a rainbow belt, leggings that matched her cropped top's color, and brown heeled sandals with the heel straps designed like blue flowers._

 _"Feige Blomstroll!" Ingwer snarled. "I should have known that you would go anywhere with that boyfriend of yours!"_

 _"Got me there," Feige snickered through her blue lipstick covered lips as she went to cuddle with Dårlig. "Ain't that right, Bergy Wuggy?"_

 _Jessie Joker gagged from the spot she was sitting. "For mad love from a minion to her boss, I knew my mommy was insane with my daddy, but this coming from the son of the Bergen Chef and the daughter of Creek the Troll? Two different species and the feelings are reciprocated?"_

 _"You got that one, J.J." Penna winked at her before going back to her business with Feige and Dårlig. "Will one of you explain to me why the Squib fairy is here?"_

 _The Troll and the Bergen stopped their affectionate snuggling. "Forgive us, milady, but the brat was nosing around when we were kidnapping the Frollo brat you wanted to us to fetch," Dårlig said apologetically. "And knocking her on the head and leave her there wasn't an option. She could have ratted us out to King Ben, so we had to kidnap her..."_

 _"What did you do to Charles?" François demanded to know what happened to his friend._

 _"Let's just say he's...having a family reunion with his long-lost half brother while they're being forced to figure out why their ray isn't working on Fiske," Penna said._

 _The trapped VKs gasped when they realized they failed to notice that Martin Fiske was nowhere to be seen. "What have you done to Martin?" Buffy shouted. "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?"_

 _"Careful, there, Mad Buff!" Minuit got up in a warning tone while Jessie threatened to unleash her mallet's axe. "You don't want to get deep inside our hole!"_

 _"Now, now, Minuit. Don't blame their curiosity." Penna got, fully revealing the lavender evening gown with pearled snakes sown on it that she was wearing. Some of the captive males (and the males from the Auradon audience) had to bite their lips to prevent themselves from drooling, because with the tight fabric showing off her body's form and almost three-quarters of her chest, she could have almost been mistaken for a nude, lavender-skinned Aphrodite. Her demonic winds were folded downward, covering her back like a cape. Along with all the snake-themed head chain, necklace, and rings, she looked very much like a queen as she walked towards a green curtain that covered the wall her throne was shielding. "I believe you all know who my father is," she said as she grabbed the curtain with one hand._

 _"Voldemort, duh." Moonlight rolled her eyes with Eleanor nodding in agreement with her. "You'd think that being imprisoned here wouldn't shout how much Miss Venom wants to be like her good old daddy," the latter muttered._

 _"_ _ **On the contrary**_ _!" Penna snarled in such a venomous tone. She pulled down the curtain brutally, ripping off the hooks used to hold it up. Without the curtain, everyone could see what it was hiding: a giant painted portrait of two individuals, one of them standing like a king while the other was crouching on the floor like a helpless minion. The standing figure was by far the most terrifying figure they had ever seen: a man, whose face, nose structure, and cheekbones could have suggested that he was Frollo's age when the portrait was taken. Instead of having normal hair, the man's forehead was forming three horns shaped like hissing cobras made of his lavender skin and grey smoke was slithering from his head like smoke from a burning oven. His grey-scale patterned cloak was crowing the large, dark teal robes he was wearing. What was so mortifying about that man was that not only was he scary beyond comparison, but he was the only part of the portrait that was attacked with shurikens, axes, swords, boomerangs, and every known sharp blade in the world. And the second figure in the portrait, a small Caucasian girl who didn't even look like she hit puberty, looked like she was whimpering as the man gripped her hair tightly when the portrait was taken._

"Good Lord," F.G gasped. "It's him. He has her eyes."

"And I recognize her hair!" Mal gasped.

 _"Behold the thing I loathe the most in the entire universe aside from everything else I hate!" Penna De Mort shouted angrily at the portrait. "My father, Lord Voldemort!"_

 _"I thought he was bald and noseless," Finius said rather bluntly despite his disgust._

 _"_ _ **Yeah, the Auradon cinema industry and educators mostly did that in order to keep little kids from having nightmares**_ _," Indimia Rex said as she filed her nails with her own body's spikes._

 _"You and your parents have so many good stories." Penna suddenly appeared in front of the holding cell, making everyone scream, especially Jane, who Penna was giving a nasty glare. "Even the lowest of characters like fairies have such good stories. So, it's only fair that before I take your marks and destroy you once I take over the universe, I tell you_ my story _. And don't worry, you'll be getting visuals of my true memories while I narrate."_

"She's going to tell her backstory?" Avery questioned while the screen showed Penna appearing back on her throne and looking bitterly at her prisoners while Bloodyle used magic to create a floating orb that showed Penna's tragic past.

 _"Once upon a time," Penna said as she used a mocking tone to say the first four words, "about 116 years ago, there was a very heartless, powerful, and cruelly immortal wizard named Tom Marvolo Riddle, or better known as Voldemort, since his use of Horcruxes to stock up his soul and live forever made him rumored to have stolen or fled from death. He was so powerful and led an army of Death Eaters that made him so dreaded, even villains trembled before him. But what many people weren't aware of was that he had an ancestor much more powerful than Salazar Slytherin. As a matter of fact, his most ancient ancestor was Yaveske, one of the two princes who defeated their father King Otreros when he had used the Villains Comet for his own evil desires._

 _"Yaveske, according to archived records, happened to be the ancestor of_ _ **a grand number**_ _of villains, especially those that exist today. And based on a legend, one of his descendants would become all-powerful if he were to sire a child after a demonic pact and the child would be used to create for him the ability to destroy all existence to recreate it in his own image when the Villains Comet came. Since Voldemort wanted to rule his own perfect little world of only snakes and pureblooded wizards, he made a pact with the most powerful demoness he could find: Svjetla the lavender demon. In exchange for bearing him a child, he would have to serve her for eternity._

 _"Unfortunately for Svjetla, Voldemort had no intention of keeping his end of the deal, and just to his luck his poisonous blood that their child was inheriting was killing her right when she was about to have labor. But Svjetla was witty, she got back at Voldemort by ruining his face and, through the only possible of last minute maternal love she could give, cursing him that the darkness in his child would be destroyed by a descendant of Yves and that if such a thing would ever happen, the child would be his undoing._

 _"So Svjetla sadly died, leaving her unfortunate baby, a girl named Penelope Svjetla Marvolo Riddle, in the hands of her cruel father. To ensure that he would use her as he desired, Voldemort tossed his daughter over to the Basilisk family and had them nurse her in his place while he tried hunting down any possible descendant of Yves. But it was hopeless: unlike Yaveske, Yves had protected his descendants by making sure their evil blood was camouflaged in generations of spousing good blood. This made Voldemort hate reformees more than one could ever imagine._

 _"As for Penelope, she had the most horrible life ever. Even though the basilisks cared for her as if she were one of them in the most maternal and sibling ways as possible, Voldemort was always dominating her to ensure that she grew up evil like him. He showed her no love, tortured her if she could do a dark spell correctly, made go sleep in cobra nests if he caught her crying rather than give her a toy for consolation, and instead of throwing her a birthday party and cake like her nurses secretly did, he'd put a living person on the table, force her to use the Killing Curse, and turn the murdered soul into a Horcrux._

 _"This went on for so many years. Poor Penelope was so helpless and enslaved by her creator that she couldn't stop crying at night, even if it meant getting whipped by Voldemort! Every day, she would look out the window and see how all heroic, villainous, and antiheroic people moved in their lives with so many possibilities that Penelope wished she could have: friends to play with after school, a Christmas Tree to decorate, a nice local baker who'd give you free bread for being so helpful, and, the most desired, a person you'd fall in love with, marry, grow a family, and live happily ever after._

 _"When Penelope turned eleven, she had been forced by her father and Dumbledore (who hoped back then to be able to reform her) to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where she got sorted into her ancestor Salazar Slytherin's house. Penelope was a good, well-behaved student who tried to be nice to everyone she met. But no matter how much she tried, everyone was so afraid of her. They would say things like 'Voldemort's daughter, run for your lives!' or 'Go away, you filthy monster!' or even 'You're your daddy's little monster! Who the Hell would want to be friends with you?' And poor Penelope would always run to the abandoned girls' bathroom, where her only friends were the bathroom's ghost Moaning Myrtle, who knew all about being bullied, and her foster sibling Bloodyle, who was living in the Chamber of Secrets right underground._

 _"One day, when she was in her sixth year at Hogwarts, Penelope actually managed to get a genuine relationship with a final year Slytherin boy named Mandire Sulliver." The orbs showing Penna's memories showed the face of an athletic boy with cropped auburn hair, green eyes, a smirk on his lips, and the Slytherin uniform on him._

 _"Uh, he's actually pretty cute," Ingwer said. Sean glared at her._

"I'd say the same." Evie admitted.

 _"I know, right?" Penna looked at the face of Mandire Sulliver face in an enamored look that no one had ever seen her with. "He was a pureblood, he was smart, handsome, cunning, and the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team. Mandire was the only guy and student I ever knew who was so nice to me. He'd send me secret letters every month and we were friends and as we got older I fell madly in love with him..." She sighed and looked away from the magical orb. "Sadly, it didn't last."_

 _"Let me guess," Tara Sam said in a rather sympathetic tone, "your dad said you couldn't date so he killed your crush or your crush didn't like you back, which drove you to a path of evil. Seen it."_

 _"Seriously?" Finius frowned._

 _"Just ask my dad: he slightly reciprocated the feelings of a spy who was crushing on him until she found out his evil intentions and forgot about her crush. I mean, hello, emphasis on my second name?"_

 _"Can we please get back to my tragedy?" Penna snapped before resuming her 'fairy tale'. "Anyway, Scam here is sort of correct: Voldemort didn't approve of Penna's growing romantic affection for Mandire because as he was born from a loveless union via a love potion and his daughter was born from a completely unloving pact, none of them should be able to comprehend any form of love or even feel it, especially the romantic kind. And since he feared that the 'power of love' would redeem his child and lead to his doom, he put an end to it. Voldemort used an Imperius Curse on Mandire Sulliver and tricked Penelope into believing that Mandire cared for another rather than her. This was too much for Penelope and she finally believed that no one could possibly love her the way she had hoped Mandire would, so she willingly killed him herself and created her sixteenth and final Horcrux. Forcing his daughter to create so many Horcruxes has helped Voldemort create a mark of villainy that allowed him to rip off Penelope's good and bad sides, and while he banished her good side into wandering dimensions, he kept her bad side, everything rotten he raised her to be, and renamed her Penna De Mort."_

 _"And that's the part where you go on to be his brainwashed second-in-command for decades," Proserpine said. "Stories lied about what actually happened at Hogwarts during the conflict with your dad's arch-foe Harry Potter: in reality, Voldemort used you to kill everybody when they were on the verge of destroying his last Horcrux, but when you came back from completing the mission, you overheard Voldemort planning to dispose of you once he had achieved his goals. You were so tired of him using you that you destroyed his last Horcrux with your own hands and sent him to the realm between life and death, the Limbo."_

 _"How do you know that?" Minuit frowned._

 _"Unlike some people, I talk to Hades while I sleep." The main villains looked at her like she had said something disturbing._

 _"So, even though I destroyed my father out of my life, I knew I could never gain a life a desired because of him," Penna continued. "But then I learned more about how he intended to use me to gain power when the comet came, and after some more research and consulting the Fates, I have come up with a brilliant plan: gathering the powerful essences of all the other current descendants of Yaveske to create a megassence," she motioned at the black liquid surrounding the prisoners. "Once the Villains Comet comes and I consume the megassence with the godly essence of Artemis Nightmare, the descendant of the most ancient of deities, I will have the invincible dark power to keep raising my army, vacuum all those heroes, villains, and antiheroes out there, and destroy everything in the universe so that I can create my own world, a world where no one will ever know of Voldemort and my sufferings. A world where I'll rule as queen and my top henchmen, who've been as scorned as I have, will be part of my court!"_

 _Minuit, Jessie, Indimia, Bloodyle, Feige, and Dårlig applauded as she made a theatrical bow._

 _"You know, for someone who had a very disturbing childhood, your conquest plan is actually a lot more detailed than Maleficent's," Manny confessed._

 _"I know," the witch bragged._

 _"Just so I understand properly," Buffy said. "If all the descendants you attacked are descended from your ancestor, doesn't that mean..."_

 _"Keep dreaming," Bloodyle cut her off. "Penna's biological family made her give up any damn on connecting with other family branches."_

 _"Can't blame a golfer for trying."_

 _"I have a question," Fork spoke up. "Just how the Hell did you manage to take marks of villainy from our peers and why did you kidnap us all the way to your castle?"_

 _"Glad you asked." Penna smirked. "When I researching for ways to take essences while I intentionally resided on the Isle, I found an ancient text talking about an extraction spell that only members of the dark gypsy royal family knew."_

"SO THAT'S WHY SHE'S INTO CHARLES!" Gitane exclaimed.

 _"Charles is Frollo and Queen Tradaria's son," Jane said. "And Karlos Python is his half brother. That's why you kept bugging them!"_

 _"And how do you know that?" Moonlight arched an eyebrow._

 _"Oh, Auradon Prep has been using one of Proserpine's crystal balls to watch all the events on the Isle as if they were part of some sort of documentary," Feige said. "You'd be surprised how posing as goodie shoes in order to spy on your boss' targets' next moves can be very educational."_

 _All the trapped VKs glared at Proserpine in disbelief. "I just sent it to my demigod pals in case they were homesick!" She complained._

 _"Sure," Diego muttered before asking Penna to continue. "So, you were after Frollo and Python?"_

 _"Specifically Charles." Penna nodded. "When I consulted the Fates, they said he'd be the one to craft the most of that spell into a necessary weapon, so I tried to kidnap him when he was a child when his mother and stepfather Kaa were attempting to escape the Isle of the Lost with their sons on their boat,_ La Petite Charlotte _."_

"That's why the name of Charles' goat sounded so familiar!" Avery snapped his fingers as his memory darted back to the county fair. " _La Petite Charlotte_ was the sailing boat dark gypsies used to travel overseas!"

 _"They could escape, since ancient magic could nullify the barrier's powers, but I murdered Tradaria and Kaa on the way. I was about to take Charles back with me until Frollo himself had arrived and decided to go all papa wolf on his hybrid of a son, so I had to use a memory erasing on Charles and everyone else in the city to make them believe that it was Frollo who killed Tradaria and not me. I then forced Frollo to abuse and mistreat his child unless he wanted me to kill his son the same way I killed the boy's mother, so he did as I said._

 _"Charles got his mark of villainy due to his false belief that Frollo murdered his mother and his desire to avenge, so when he turned eight, I convinced him to use that extracting spell and convert it into a ray. He thought back then he was building something to kill Frollo, but he found out when it was too late that I actually had him build my ray to take marks of villainy. He tried to rat on me, but since Karlos- his visionary powers made him immune to my spell, so I had to blackmail him with his little brother's life to keep the python under my finger- had also been working on the ray on the aside, I made Charles see that I meant business and he became my first test."_

 _All the VKs gasped in horror._

 _"For the next few years, I had Minuit, Jessie, Feige, and Dårlig, my main henchmen at Dragon Hall, bully, harass, and encourage hatred upon the freak to crush his spirits. But just my luck, Frollo panicked and when the next slot of elected VKs being drafted to Auradon came, he begged Shan Yu to let him jam the system so that his son could be transferred to Auradon Prep, and he ended up inspiring Shan Yu to do the same thing with Haya."_

Everyone looked at Haya, who looked rather devastated. She had always looked up to her father with pride, but lately it seemed like she didn't know him at all.

 _"Since we were the only ones among her minions who knew our way around the city," Minuit explained, "Jessie, Feige, Dårlig and I led those Penna hid back in her lair through the underground network of dead volcanic tunnels and around the Isle in order to lead them towards the descendants that they had to shoot at with the ray in specific order."_

 _"We did have a_ _ **small**_ _problem with one of the minions, Mulciber, though," Dårlig admitted as he sharpened a very creepy cooking knife. "He got killed by accident by Kyle when she tried hunting him down while it was his turn to use the ray on students at Dragon Hall. Feige and I got lucky though: Mulciber had accidently dropped his ray gun while he was running from her so we picked it up on the way, and since Kyle lost consciousness at the sight of her 'crime', this gave us time to lead Brittany Crouch to Mulciber's body and let her use her Dementius Spell on Mulciber while Feige put a fake ID on Mulciber, claiming he was a pharmacist rather than a former Death Eater of Voldemort doomed to serve his master's child."_

 _"The Dementius Spell?" Ingwer frowned. "That wasn't part of the spells any of us learned in Villainous Witchcraft."_

 _"That's because Brittany created that spell using the concepts of a Dementor's Kiss in order to literally suck the waters out of his brain and make him useless to the authorities," Penna chuckled. "I must admit: the dirty blood's innocent crime was so helpful. Giving everyone a false sense of security that disappeared as soon as the Council's pathetic mission assignment to the quintet of failure came to be." She pointed at Fork, Proserpine, Ingwer, and Sean. "Honestly, it was irritating how she kept outsmarting all the monsters I sent to dispose of her so that I could make your capture much easier, but hey, turns out that my good, weak self made things easier for me by suggesting Rebecca to beg Artemis Nightmare for a Memorb..."_

 _"So Ruby wasn't kidding when she said she met your good side!" Sean gasped._

 _"Bingo! And right now, I'm willing to bet that she is withering herself away as her soul crushes itself into pieces and her heart breaks from the truth. Believe me, when killing your foe sounds too easy, it's better to break their spirits and let them destroy themselves emotionally." Penna cackled loudly enough to make her hissing laughter echo through the halls. She then cleared her throat and said in a serious tone. "OK, anymore questions before we move on to the big guns?"_

 _"I do." Jane raised her hand and trembled a bit when Penna looked at her in irritation. "What's your mark of villainy?"_

 _Penna said nothing. She flew her way towards the holding cell. Once her booted feet touched the ground, she turned over as if she were a ballerina, her wings wide open, and her bare back exposed to her captives. They all yelped in horror when they saw the mark of villainy that covered all of her back: a ghastly black diagram of a sixteen-pointed star, each point designed like the moon glyph of death, and in the center, a screaming purple girl clutching her head in agony as her brain turned into a skull and her mouth vomited a living, coiling green snake._

 _"Oy, that is nasty!" Diego gasped._

 _"That is_ _ **NOT**_ _something I want to have as a tattoo," Eleanor said in disgust._

 _"Wait," Otrera said as her button eyes blinked at the mark of villainy. "The dots on the death moon glyphs...They're Kraken Acupuncture Needles Dots!"_

 _"Kraken Acupuncture Needle Dots?" Moonlight stared blankly at the daughter of the Other Mother._

 _"My mother keeps these needles as rare antiques in her sewing room. She said that back when evil first started and marks of villainy were formed on individuals through generations of self-discovery, there were some evil families who were picky about what kind of marks the young generation would get. So every year once a newborn came to the family, they would insert a Kraken Acupuncture dipped with the parents' blood on the body of the child until the mark of villainy finally came. The needles would block certain flowing points of the body's system, so that way the mark of villainy would be formed by force rather than naturally as tradition wants it."_

 _"So you're saying that our parents could have easily used those acupuncture needles on us to make sure we were like them?" Buffy paled in horror._

 _"They wouldn't have. After villainous families went nuts from using the needles at every generation and since the only time an attempt was made to remove the needles from a body ended up rather painfully, the leading figures of the villainous communities had all the Kraken Acupuncture Needles confiscated and destroyed and a death sentence placed on anyone who dared to use them again."_

 _"And since they root themselves inside your body, they are impossible to remove," Penna said coldly as she folded her wings down and covered her mark. "After Voldemort forced me to kill and make a Horcrux at every birthday, he'd strap me on a table with my back facing him while he literally hammered a Kraken Needle through my skin. Even fifty years of going to spa massages hasn't helped! And thanks to all the curses and spells he put on me in order to turn me into this, my clothes burn every time I try to cover myself like a nun!" She motioned at herself in exasperation. She sighed in exasperation before she calmed down and smiled deviously. "But after today, my pain will be forgotten and I'll have a brighter future ahead of me! Soon I'll be getting what I should have gotten ages! What we've all been forbidden for far too long!" She extended her arms to her henchmen as she headed back towards them._

 _"Revenge on the Troll kingdom!" Dårlig raised his fist._

 _"The royals head on our walls!" Feige joined him._

 _"Payback on Voldemort letting my father getting killed!" Bloodyle shouted._

 _"Dirty bloods to hunt and feast on!" Indimia said._

 _"Evil domination!" Minuit shouted._

 _"The universe getting its final laugh!" Jessie giggled._

 _"_ _ **MY HAPPILY EVER AFTER AT LAST!**_ _" Penna laughed cruelly with her minions from her throne while the prisoners trembled in their cage and the volcanic lava outside thundered with the roars of monsters._

"Oh, no..." Fairy Godmother said. "This is worse than I imagined!"

"Ben, what are we going to do?" Jay asked. "We can't just let her destroy everything!"

"But what can we do? The barrier is blocked so that no one gets in or out!" Audrey said.

"Charlesy..." Gitane buried her face in her hands and cried.

"Hey, guys!" They looked to see Doug step inside the auditorium.

"Sweetie, where have you been?" Evie gave her boyfriend a desperate hug. "We got trouble coming from Penna."

"I think we got worse ones." Doug walked towards Haya. "A navy sergeant said that a phony Hun was reported catapulting herself towards Mt Vesuvius with Ruby Kyle and a student from St Luther's. And just as I got back from town, I found this near a broken man hole." He released one of his clutched fists and revealed a necklace to Haya.

Her feather pendant.

Haya bit her teeth as she picked up the pendant and held it up in the air.

"Lonnie," she whimpered. "Tell me you didn't!"


	84. Odd Team In Mt Vesuvius

Chapter 84: Odd Team In Mt Vesuvius

As RJ had predicted, it had taken the girls less than an hour for them to be catapulted from the city's border all the way to Mt Vesuvius. They landed rather roughly on a bunch of thick dead bushes growing on top of the entrance of Mt Vesuvius. Fortunately, none of them had any injured bones, otherwise sneaking past the guards and going through the mouth of Salazar Slytherin's head would have been impossible.

"I seriously disrecommend this for traveling," Ruby silently muttered as they went through a series of underground volcanic tunnels leading to the core. The only lights in the tunnels either came from the distant glow of red lava or RJ looking at a tracker device.

"Just as I thought," she said when she saw fourteen red dots beeping on the screen. "My missing classmates are at the heart of Vesuvius."

"And the other VKs Penna hasn't attacked yet," Ruby said grimly. In reality, her mind was going nuts with worry, for she had no idea what could be happening to her friends and Martin.

Footsteps were heard passing by. "Incoming! Quick!" Lonnie hissed and led them towards a small opening on her left side. They crawled their way in and had to cover their mouths so that the passing monsters wouldn't hear them breathe.

"OK, _that_ was too close for comfort!" RJ told Lonnie once the enemy was gone.

"Guys! Look at this!" Ruby stood up and looked at one of the walls in the small space they were hiding: instead of being made of jagged, volcanic stone, it was made of smooth stone and carvings like an ancient relic. The wall was covered in carved images illustrated in an ancient fashion that seemed to tell a story. "It looks like an ancient mural tablet telling an old story."

"Check that trio on the top corner." RJ pointed at what looked like two twins facing a crazy king as the latter stood behind a covered sun.

"That depiction you found looks more like the way the villains show through illustration the princes Yaveske and Yves working together to defeat their father, King Otreros, when he went nuts and used the Villains Comet for his evil desires." Ruby looked at the part of the Villains Comet blocking the sun. "Looks like the comet will be blocking all source of light when it comes today."

The next part of the mural tablet was rather interesting: it showed a map of the world and the brothers' faces heading in different directions, with Yaveske heading towards the Western Hemisphere and Yves towards the Eastern. As each of Yaveske faces headed further west, they left a trail of marks. "The brothers splitting up and heading in different directions," Ruby judged. "This might suggest that Yaveske had a big legacy of villainous descendants."

"You think Penna De Mort is perhaps one of his descendants?" RJ asked.

"Who knows? Radiance Nightmare said that Otreros cursed his sons after they defeated him. One's descendant would be doomed to repeat Otreros' deed while the other's would be doom to defeat his 'cousin'. And from what Professor Eris said back in Dark History of Evil Deities, some stories say that many of today's villains were descended from Yaveske."

"No way," Lonnie gasped.

"I know, right?" RJ said.

"No, I mean this!" Lonnie pointed at the main facial image of Yves. Her eyes looked like she had seen a ghost. "Yves' face looks a lot like the spitting image of the First Ancestor!"

"The First Ancestor?" Ruby frowned.

"It's a term used in ancestor-worshipping countries to refer to the very first ancestor in your family tree," RJ said. "I...learned that during a six-year study in Japan."

"Cassie, my guardian-in-training, and her dad Mushu always keep a picture of them with the spirits of the ancestors residing in my family shrine. And my First Ancestor happens to look a lot like Yves!"

"So Mulan's ancestor was a bad guy's kid?" RJ said, rather stunned, as she looked closer at the map that showed the directions Yves' legacy seemed to have finally settled. "I stand corrected. Turns out that the remaining descendants of Yves are the three of us. The locations on the map clearly indicate that the current members of the guy's family were born in Gotham, China, and Japan." She showed the locations on the map. "Ruby was from Gotham, Lonnie's from China, and I...was kinda born in a Japanese monastery. That's what happens when your parents have connections that make your mom give birth at their place rather than at a hospital while your folks are on a business trip in Tokyo."

"So, we're like cousins?" Lonnie suggested with open arms inviting a hug.

"Don't sweat it," RJ said sourly. "I already have personal issues with my biological family, so I don't need extra." The way she directly told Lonnie that she didn't consider the three of them altogether as a family kind of stung to Lonnie's ears.

"I'll take it." Ruby went to give Lonnie a hug. It's been a while since Ruby had been hugged and she was quite alone without her dead mother and her no-reason-whatsoever absent father along with her friends, so it felt great to have some sort of cousin around. Meanwhile, RJ read what appeared to be Japanese calligraphy.

" _Norowareta futago no kodomo tachi,_ " she read accurately and fluently in Japanese. Ruby and Lonnie were surprised that they couldn't hear any American accent. " _Suisei ga kite, anata no tsumi o kiyomeru jikan. Yabeke no ko wa, chichioya no kage ni shitagau tame ni norowa remasu. Ibu no ko yo, anata wa yoi mono to warui mono to no ma ni sakeme o sai kesshu shinakereba naranai. Ai to gisei dake ga, senri no tamashi o hakai shite sukuu koto ga dekimasu._ "

"And in English? Although I must admit, I like how you speak Japanese so fluently," Ruby said.

"Thanks, it's my second language." RJ cleared her throat before translating what she read. "Children of the cursed twins. The comet has come, time to cleanse thy sins. Child of Yaveske, thou shall be cursed to follow the paternal shadow. Child of Yves, thou shall reunite the rift between good and bad. Only love and sacrifice can save a thousand souls from the destruction of one."

Only a weak wind was heard in the small space they were in as the words seeped into their heads. This wasn't some old phony lullaby to put to sleep a baby from the Antiquity: this sounded like a no-rhyme prophecy that suggested that a descendant of Yves would make a sacrifice to save lives from the mayhem that a descendant of Yaveske would cause once the comet came. In other words, one of the girls might have to die to save the world.

"So." Ruby clasped her hands together. "Who's ready to die as a savior?"

 _About ten or twenty minutes later_

They might not be ready to die as saviors, but they _definetly_ wished that there were another option to sneak into Penna De Mort's castle other than the sewage rivers and pipes.

When they had reached the end of the tunnel, the girls were both horrified and speechless when they saw the lair and kingdom of the daughter of Voldemort. To their eyes, it looked like a nightmarish landscape made of volcanic rock walls and cascading lava that could have easily fit all the Western Hemisphere of Auradon itself. If Pompeii wasn't already bad enough outside of Vesuvius, the dreadful city full of monsters ranging from small goblins to enormous giants crazily digging through the volcanic mines or building war weapons from inside the volcano was worse.

But the main attraction in all this hell was the castle itself. Tall enough to hold the underground kingdom's ceiling like a thick emerald pillar that could contain a mountain, the castle looked like a perfect, but evil mixture of the Harlaxton Manor, the castle of Hogwarts, Frollo's Palace of Justice, and Queen Elsa's ice palace with a touch of serpentine architecture, tower tiles made of snake fangs, and statues reflecting how self-centered their owner was.

In plainer English, someone had been very busy for the past twenty or twenty-one years.

The main question for the trio when they saw the insane kingdom was with all the monsters, henchmen, and other insane beasts in a growing army that occupied almost every inch of every street and could probably smell a human from a mile? And the solution coming from a former cat burglar of Gotham? Swimming their way towards the castle in the sewage river, which made passerbys see them as some pollution monsters of the sort, until they reached the dominating building's underground sewer system, where after a while, they managed to make their way through the basement's floor after Ruby kicked the air vent open.

"We made it," Ruby said as they got out soaking wet and smelly from the trip.

"You don't say," Lonnie muttered. She twisted her hair in order to get most of its water out of it while RJ was just checking her hair and pockets as if she were hiding something. She pulled out her tracking device and stared at the screen while tapping on some buttons. "The missing reformees are being trapped in the highest room of the castle, and according to thermal readings caused from inner panicked, there's about the same amount of villainous descendants trapped in this place as there are reformees."

"So that means my friends are here!" Ruby exclaimed in horror.

A frantic noise was heard like somebody banging on a glass cage. The girls looked around the dark basement they were in and spotted something unusual in the practically empty room: a large, plain mirror (which seriously contrasted the castle's theme), and behind the glass was a figure familiar to Ruby banging on it.

"Penelope?" Ruby gasped as she rushed to the mirror. "So this is were you real prison is?"

" **I know, right?** " Penelope Svjetla Marvolo Riddle said from behind the surface. " **Glad to see you guys made it.** "

"Why is the mirror talking?" RJ asked, creeped out by the scenario.

"During my mission with my friends to Nightmare Moon's territory, we had to go through Riddle's Graveyard Post in order to get into Penna's territory so that we could reach our destination. But while the temple was supposed to aggress any intruder by fatally forcing them to live an illusion of their worst fear, I ended up meeting Penna's good side in an alternate dimension while my friends were suffering," Ruby explained. "And then when I was on my...latest hiatus, I've been seeing Penelope more often while I was meditating. That's when she told me that my part good, part bad blood metabolism actually made me immune to the effects of Riddle's Graveyard Post."

" **Look, we don't have much time**!" Penelope said urgently. " **Soon, Penna will be using her improved spell on the remaining villainous descendants on her list. That's why she kidnapped them: because her improved version isn't exactly portable. Ruby, remember what I told you about Penna and I needing to be rebounded?** "

"Yeah, why?" Ruby said.

" **Unless you haven't seen the forgotten tablet, you know that only Yves' blood can help fix Yaveske's blood today. The best way to deal with my bad side's problem for now is to put me back in through a process of opening, inserting, and sealing...** "

"And in English?" RJ asked impatiently.

Penelope groaned in exasperation. " **The way Voldemort managed to separate the two of us was when he forcefully made a mark of villainy appear in the style he desired by using Kraken Acupuncture Needles...** "

"Oh, I heard they're agonizing if you hammer them down into your body. They're supposed to control all of your system's chakras," RJ said uneasily.

" **Believe me, the sixteen needles he put on us was a nightmare. Anyway, the point is that if you can manage to remove** _ **at least**_ **one of the Kraken Needles, you should be able to widen to widen the open wound so that one of you can put me in and another seals the opening with some sort of power. Ruby, your adamantium nails should be tough enough to rip out one of the needles from Penna's mark and keep it open for Lonnie to put me in and for RJ to seal the opening. That way I can try regaining control.** "

"That's a very elaborate plan, but I don't think Penna De Mort will just let us walk towards her and ask her to stand down so that we can 'save her'," Lonnie remarked. "Besides, how the heck are we supposed to take you to her in the physical world?"

" **Penna's mark of villainy is on her back, and thanks to Voldemort, it's a ghastly thing she can't hide with anything except her wings. As for me, I'm like a parasite. Just get me an object to hold me after you break this mirror and then, you know...** "

"Will this do?" RJ pulled something out of her hair and showed it to the mirror. To Ruby and Lonnie's complete confusion, it was a small leaf-based crown that would have been the perfect size for Thumbelina. Penelope nodded eagerly once she saw the object and at her signal, Ruby kicked the mirror. Shards were flying and a teal aura slithered into the doll crown, where it now briefly resided.

A red light and piercing alarm began to ring off.

"Oh, come on! First Gotham and now this?" Ruby held out her arms in exasperation. "Why does Penna even have a freaking alarm?"

"No time! Let's go!" RJ used a martial arts kick to break the door of the basement open. Ruby noted how, for some reason, that kick seemed oddly familiar. "Let's go!"


	85. Reality Show, Episode 92

Chapter 85: Reality Show, Episode 9.2

"If I find out that Lonnie is on the Isle of the Lost and she triggered the alarm in that witch's castle, I'm going to kill her myself if she survives!" Haya exclaimed. After Doug said he found the pendant Haya had given to Lonnie during the latter's meeting with the matchmaker and that a phony Hun was seen catapulting her way towards Mt Vesuvius, the daughter of Shan Yu panicked and quickly rushed back to the dorms. She broke open Lonnie and Kory's dorm, but no one was there. She then rushed to her own dorm and found that not only was her closet open and some of her clothes were gone (thankfully, they were those she got from a Hun friend who got it from a Hun thrift shop because he was too lazy to buy good quality ones, so she didn't regret losing them), but the window had been forced open from the outside and Haya discovered that a certain package Mulan had given to her as an apology token was gone as well.

"You didn't find her?" Macy asked worried when Haya bursted her way back into the dormitory right when the screen was showing Penna De Mort and her lackeys getting interrupted from their session of using her ray laser cannon on the trapped VKs right when the alarm broke their eardrums.

"No!" Haya gripped her hair in frustration. "And worst part is that she snatched some of my clothes along with my dad's sword!"

"Shan Yu's sword? Oh, you mean the sword that Mulan received from the Emperor after she saved all of the China?" Kory asked. She cringed in her seat when Haya gave her a glare that said ' _What do you think?_ '

" _I can't even snatch some marks of villainy peacefully with that alarm bugging me!" Penna De Mort spat at the troop of snake soldiers that came to report the alarm blaring. "What do I pay you for?"_

 _"Uh, Your Ladyship?" Brittany Crouch said sheepishly while dealing with her boss' anger. "You don't pay any of your mooks."_

 _"I don't pay them?" Penna asked calmly. "_ _ **I DON'T PAY THEM?**_ _ **AVADA KADAVRA!**_ _" She shot a green blast of light at the snake soldiers and killed them dead on the scene. Audrey hid in Jay's embracing arms in fright at the scene. "_ _ **I PAY MY MINIONS BY NOT KILLING THEM JUST YET! CROUCH! PETTIGREW! FIND ME THE INTRUDER AND BRING HIM TO BE DEAD OR ALIVE UNLESS YOU WANT TO BECOME NAGA'S VICTORY MEAL!**_ _"_

 _"R...Right away, milady!" Roedor Pettigrew stammered. He morphed into a rat and scurried his way out of the room with Brittany on his tail. Meanwhile, Bayen Lestrange and Bloodyle were dragging Florence into a separate cage with Diego and Buffy after she had been shot by the ray laser cannon controlled by a chained Charles and Karlos Python. Both of the half-brothers looked like they had been forced to stay awake by plunging their heads in barrels of caffeine, which would explain why they looked so messy and tired._

 _"Why is nothing that easy at the last minute, Naga?" Penna groaned as she slouched on her throne and caressed the back of her beloved snake's head. Drystan Troy Umbridge was checking on a glass container connected to the cannon._

 _"The first three marks of villainy have been collected, mistress!" he said._

 _"Keep going! The faster I get all their marks, the sooner I get the one of my blasted alicorn nemesis, and the sooner we all get what we want!" Penna barked. She looked towards a nearby wall, where Martin Fiske was severely strapped to the wall with chains that prevented him from using his dexterous monkey hands and feet to liberate himself. With the status of his hair and clothes, he looked like he had been tangoing with a mixer misplaced in an oven. "And of course I'd better get an answer for why Grey Hair still can't get your mark of villainy, Fiske Boy!"_

 _Another ray blast and soon it was Manny's turn to be dragged in the new cage. Seeing her boyfriend getting his mark removed was horrible to Macy's eyes._

 _"Cry me a river," Martin chuckled smugly despite his bad state. "You should have reconsidered it when you decided to take your childhood horrors in places other than a shrink's office."_

 _"How DARE you insult those superior to you, you filthy mutated hybrid?" Bayen spat._

 _"So, I insulted your boss. What are you going to do? Bow down before her and hope she lets you torture me because you are SO hopelessly devoted to her? I hate to break it to you, old chap, but between a self-respected mutant and a dim-witted minion who keeps getting rejected by the source of his mad obsessions, there's only one idiot."_

 _"He's rather right." Penna looked in disgust at Bayen. "By far, you are my most worthless minion, Bayen."_

 _The son of Bellatrix Lestrange was beginning to look devastated. "But, Your Excellency...I've been your loyalist ever since forever!" He stammered. His voice was sounding really hurt._

"I know he's ridiculous, but I feel bad for him," Audrey confessed while Penna got up from her throne and marched her way towards Bayen and slapped him.

 _"You imbecile! You might have been_ _ **my**_ _loyalist, but your mother was the devotee of Voldemort! The same applies for the parents of Brittany, Roedor, and Drystan!"_

 _"Technically my mother didn't know your father took over the Ministry of Magic..." Drystan Troy interrupted from his job of checking the glass container as Otrera got shot. Penna threatened Drystan to shut up with a blast of green magic. "I said nothing."_

 _"I'm stuck with you around because my creator forced me to! But do you have any idea of how_ _ **irritating**_ _it has been for me to have to deal with you people, especially when you come from Death Eaters who were SO popular for serving the shadow of my life!"_

 _"Is that why we never heard of these idiots back in the city?" Ingwer asked as Feige forced her out of the holding cell and in front of the cannon. "And why you have henchmen who are not even close to your own story?"_

 _"Pretty much." The half-brothers unwillingly aimed the ray at Ingwer. The Auradon audience was horrified to see the daughter of the Candy Witch, a VK they had become attached to, losing her mark and being thrown into the new cage. "Aside from Bloodyle, who's pretty much all that I have left of the basilisks who actually bothered to treat me as family, I've taken in descendants who had just as annoying parents as I have. And also because I was slightly responsible for orphaning them."_

 _"Says the self-made orphan," Charles replied drily. Penna shot a Cruciatus Curse to make him mind his own business._

 _"We already know that Bloodyle's family and Minuit and Jessie are with you because their parents thought that their kids being friends with you was like welcoming the plague," Sean said, "but what do Indimia, Feige, and Dårlig get in all of this?"_

 _"_ _ **I get hungry almost all the time!**_ _" Indimia complained. "_ _ **Because of my mother's metabolism, I prefer hunting humans to eat and other animals for sport. Do you think eating in the Infinite Forest of Evil is like eating at a five-star hotel?**_ _"_

 _"And dealing with our parent's endless self-pity was annoying," Feige said. "I mean, Dårlig's mom and my dad keep complaining about how their lives are messed up and just sit there, doing nothing! If they had more brains, maybe their evil scheme would have worked in the first place!"_

 _"To think that by now, instead of having to cook my own meals because of Mom's excuse of Bergen misery, I could have been the Prince of Bergens if my mother had gotten her job done with using Trolls to get revenge on the monarch!" Dårlig clutched his fists. "Now all I want is to get what I should have deserved years ago, even if it means getting the head of the Troll Princess on a plate!"_

 _"Don't worry," Penna reassured Dårlig as she snapped her fingers and created a floating, holographic map of a destroyed universe being recreated by herself. "I swear on the River Styx that by the time I rule my new perfect world, those who have best served me will get their own portion of land to rule as tyrants as well as holding positions in my court. And Dårlig, aside from being the Royal Court Chef, you will have your own perfected Bergen Town to rule, and if any of the Trolls you despise survive, I'll clone them so that you can make Trollstice a daily tradition._

 _"That would be delightful, Your Benevolent Malevolence." Dårlig bowed in gratitude to Penna. After tossing a shot François into the new cage, Feige went to cuddle her boyfriend in a hug. The latter smiled cruelly, yet affectionately back at her. "Feige, you wouldn't mind becoming the Queen of the future king of Bergen Town, would you?"_

 _"Of course not, Bergy Wuggy!" She said excitedly._

 _Gags were heard from Penna, Jessie, the prisoners, and most of the Auradon audience. While the villains were busy continuing shooting the ray at the next victims and talking about how they were going to change the cosmos, a silhouette snuck behind the pillars leading to Martin Fiske while another appeared behind the holding cell and another behind a weird metallic cargo tank that stood next to the cage holding the shot victims and the kidnapped Auradonians._

"What's up with the ghostly figures?" Carlos asked.

"I don't know..." Haya said suspiciously.

 _Martin Fiske quickly glanced at the silhouette heading towards him and briefly smiled in relief before the figure gestured him to keep quiet and pretending while it tried picking the locks on his chains. The one near the holding cell caught Tara Sam Scam's attention and she managed to slip one of her all-functional cow skin belts at the silhouette and the two began sawing through the bars while more VKs got shot. The third figure seemed more concerned about getting the cargo tank open than freeing the other victims._

 _"Hey, Minuit?" Jessie asked the daughter of Midnight Sparkle. "When do you think we'll get our extra credit?"_

 _"C'mon, hurry up!" Tara Sam muttered at the silhouette as they nearly finished their sawing. "I'm next!" Meanwhile, Martin was being freed from his chain successfully._

 _"I'd say we should get it right about..." Minuit said mischievously._

 _"_ _ **XIANGJING! XIANGJING!**_ _" a familiar voice shouted from the cargo tank._

"That voice...Holy snake, it's Cassie!" Kory realized. "So that means..."

 _"NOW!" In a dramatic spin, Minuit pointed a blast of magic at the holding cell, exposing Tara Sam as the last victim to get shot by the ray. And while this occurred to her, the destroyed pieces of the cells formed into four monstrous metallic hands that grabbed the silhouettes and the freed Martin Fiske. Each fist lifted up a prisoner as the metal arms rooted themselves on the small scrap of floor surrounded by the black pool of megassence. That way, everyone could see who the intruders were._

 _"RUBY?" the VKs exclaimed when they saw Ruby Kyle trying to break free from her tight bonds just like her boyfriend was doing with his._

 _"LONNIE?" Jane, Finius, and Eleanor exclaimed in equal shock. The daughter of Mulan gave a nervous chuckle at her caged friends._

 _Meanwhile, a ginger blonde girl with hazel eyes dressed in black biker was crazily trying to get out of her own situation. Most of the crowd didn't know who the hell she was, but Martin was the first one to see and recognize her._

 _"Ronilda?" He dropped his jaw in disbelief. "Are you fucking kidding me? What the hell are you doing here?"_

 _"Hey, MF..." Ronilda chuckled nervously and blushed when she noticed him. "So...You look like you've been in good shape during the last three years!"_

 _"Wait, you two know each other?" Ruby looked at Martin then at Ronilda._

 _"Somebody might want to tell me what's going on?" Sean asked from the cage._

 _"Ladies and gentlemen," Jessie said dramatically. "Allow me to introduce to you the current descendants of Yves, the brother of Yaveske. We have Rebecca Martha Kyle Wayne, daughter of Catwoman and Batman, Fa Li Lonnie, daughter of Mulan and Shang, and last but not least, Ronilda Anastasia Stoppable, or should I say 'Ron Stoppable', daughter of Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable!"_

 _"Oh, so that's why you just called yourself 'RJ' when we met?" Lonnie asked Ronilda. "You're technically called Ron Junior?"_

 _"I know," Ronilda groaned. "Complete humiliation nation."_

 _"That's rich, coming the whore who ruined twenty -four hours of my life!" Martin growled, more furious than ever. "You're lucky I'm bond, because I'm sure I'd have killed you with my own hands!"_

 _"Oh, that would be SO terrifying if it didn't come from the guy who ditched me as soon as he found out my last name was Stoppable!"_

 _"Well, excuse me if your Grand Spoiled Richness didn't just stay cooped up in her room back in Yamanouchi as her parents wanted her to be rather than letting her Sensei send her to hunt down a criminal!"_

 _"Hey, you stole the Lotus Blade!"_

 _"And I'm proud to have chipped a piece of it! And you ruined my reputation for months!"_

 _"As much as I enjoy watching the children of arch-foes feuding with one another, how is it that you two know each other personally?" François asked curiously._

 _"We dated," Ronilda and Martin muttered equally. This caused a bunch of gasps from everyone, including the Auradon audience. Ruby looked the most mortified._

 _"Oy, Monkey Boy! Didn't anyone tell you that it's a villainous disgrace for arch-foes to date?" Buffy said._

 _"In his defense, we only knew each other for twenty-four hours and he didn't know my last name until my overprotective parents got worried sick and put missing ads all over the Eastern Asian coast," Ronilda said._

 _"_ _ **My defense**_ _?" Martin got angrier than ever. "You hunt me down for ten hours after your Sensei told you so, you tricked me into willingly teaching you everything that I knew in Tai Shing Pek Kwar for four hours, and I still can't believe that I was a nitwit for gettin enamored with you in a ridiculous teenage romance for the last ten hours! In_ _ **my**_ _defense, just knowing you is what made me remain a bachelor until now! And this time, I made sure that I fell for someone who didn't hide the truth from me and I had a more genuine, stable relationship!" He paused from his anger and turned to Ruby. "Although I must admit, Ruby, your Dear John letter really pained me. And I'm not talking about the context."_

 _"I'm sorry..." Ruby said. The face she had when she just found out that her boyfriend had an old flame before her disappeared and got replaced by a guilty one._

 _Meanwhile, Minuit and Jessie were sharing high-fives with Feige and Dårlig. "Alright! Operation Extra Credit worked!" Jessie said as she pulled out a hundred dollar bill from her pocket and handed it to the couple. "As promised, payment for your wedding savings."_

 _"You are so generous," Feige said with a wicked grin while her boyfriend took the bill and put it in his jacket._

 _"Am I missing something here?" Penna walked towards her two main minions and tapped her foot, waiting for an answer. "Minuit, Jessie, you set all this up?"_

 _"Yep. And we got the presentation to explain it." Minuit clapped her hands and the lights turned off. A screen similar to those used for visual presentations in classrooms came down and a projector turned on, showing a slide show of doodles done by Jessie to tell in sequential art the basic of Operation Extra Credit._

 _"OK, so we have our boss who wants to take over the world but only a descendant of Yves can ensure she doesn't by forcing her to fall into a reformation nightmare. Since Voldemort was unable to find them in his days, Penna tracked them down herself, but instead of making things so easy by killing them à la Voldemort, she just makes sure that a series of events falls upon them individually and each of them gets their spirit crushed, which cripples them from any chance of possible motivation to try saving the world," Minuit explained. "Using her own past flaws as inspiration, Penna ensured that none of them could possibly pose as a threat to her: since Voldemort overshadowed Penna and made her feel like he would haunt her forever, she made sure that Lonnie here would be overshadowed by her parents' legacy and pushed through harsh expectations coming from her friends and family traditions, which in the end gave her a serious case of inferiority. Since Penna's father was never around to care for her unless it was for something he wanted and left her in the care of Bloodyle's family, Penna ensured that Ronilda's insanely rich, but madly workaholic parents spent hardly any time with their kid, which made her feel rather neglected and discouraged by Kim Possible the most to follow the family footsteps of being world-saving heroes." Minuit paused in her explanation to turn at Ronilda and taunt her. "And let's not forget that memorable car accident you nearly had when you were going to see your grand-uncle in Montana, which led to your overprotective parents sending you off to your birthplace in the Yamanouchi School in Japan, where you were raised and trained by the ninjas, but even though you showed that you were capable of fending yourself, your parents still didn't think that you could do anything like they did, which led you to growing such a big ego, getting a ticket to the one school where you felt like the delinquents there were like family to you better than your actual one, and falling for the guy you were supposed to arrest and ditched you because of your family history!"_

 _The villains laughed in mocking tones with Minuit as Lonnie's face looked defeated and Ronilda had a terrible look of a shattered soul._

"Just like that, their spirits were crushed..." F.G said, feeling horrible for the sight.

 _"And let's not forget Catsy-Batsy here!" Jessie pointed at Ruby. "Similarly to Penna, you were born with good and bad blood, but while Penna had a miserable life of a darkened reformee, you were supposed to have an amazing life as the heiress of Wayne Enterprises with just as the same amount of cash as Ronilda's parents for a family fortune to inherit, with your loving parents pampering you and your butler taking you to luxurious parties and charity fund raisers in your dad's limo. So Miss Big Boss here put a parasitical brain disease in your mom's neurons that made her go wacko and ditch your daddy despite his begging and endless years of searching, hoping to relocate his lost little girl until cruel reality told him: 'Sorry, you won't see her again!' And despite your annoying rebellious nature, you ended up getting your soul crushed when you found out you were a reformee and began to blame yourself for not stopping the attacks on your precious friends. But honestly? You would have made things a whole lot easier if you had just jumped off the cliff and died rather than coming back here."_

 _Ruby looked just as terrible as the other two. God, her father had tried in vain to search for her, but evil had managed to make him lose hope, which made Ruby want to cry as Minuit and Jessie continued the presentation._

 _"But crushing spirits didn't seem enough, so to pleasingly surprise our boss, we decided to lure you three in a trap to finish you off," Minuit said. "I used my alicorn magic to temper with the barrier so that nobody goes in and out of the Isle, which made it easier for us to infiltrate Auradon by traveling through Narissa's fountain and have Feige and Dårlig lead us to the location of the VKs we had to attack in Auradon without having the authorities throwing us a manhunt. While we were doing so, Jessie and I cooked up a plan to lure Yves' legacy right here to trap them. While I was hunting Lokisia, Beth, and Yu for their marks, I noticed that Lonnie had her own dragon guardian-in-training who happens to attend St Luther's, and since Ronilda also attended the school, Jessie and I decided to kidnap around fourteen of them and bring them to our boss' castle, where we locked them up in this cargo tank." Minuit pointed at the cargo tank that stood next to the cage._

 _"And since we found out that the school was insane enough to put tracking devices on the students and Ronilda wouldn't resist going of to rescue her classmates, we also ensured that Cassie Mushu was among the victims, because that was the bait we'd use to drag Lonnie here." Jessie giggled. "You fell for it like worms on a hook!"_

 _"That's why you want as far as kidnapping a bunch of antihero offspring, including most of my friends?" Ronilda spat angrily. "Because you knew we'd dare come save them?"_

 _"Yep." Minuit shrugged. "And the best part is that, through spying and Feige's amazing ability to understand how a person thinks or acts spiritually due to behavior, we were able to discover and confirm that Lonnie was also the secret sweetheart of Artemis Nightmare."_

"Wait, what?" almost everyone except Kory and Haya gasped in shock at the revelation.

 _"So getting you here was also a good solution for our problem to how the hell we will get Artemis Nightmare to willingly surrender in his mark of villainy to Penna," Minuit said. She clapped her hands together and the entire presentation equipment disappeared. "And that concludes our presentation of Operation Extra Credit!"_

 _"You two make me so proud!" A tearful Penna De Mort said as she gave Minuit and Jessie a big group hug. "Whatever did I do to deserve you?"_

 _"Eh, you raised us." Jessie shrugged. "So does that mean I get Las Vegas and Hoboken when you take over the world?"_

 _"Ooh, and all the Mediterranean beach resorts for me?" Minuit begged giddily._

 _"Honestly? For all the hard and genuine work you did, I'd make you Grand Duchesses for any land you desire and I take back all the nasty things I told about you in the past!" Penna's pride made Jessie and Minuit high-five one another in victory._

 _"No..." Lonnie whimpered. "Not Artemis..."_

 _"Believe me when I speak as a girlfriend, I'd gladly wish there were some other 'not getting your boyfriend killed through me' way," Feige said genuinely._

 _"But in Artemis Nightmare's case, they isn't any." Feige smiled cruelly, showing off his crooked yellow teeth as he scratched the bars of the cage containing the prisoners with his knife, making them tremble in fear._

 _"_ _ **But**_ _if you look at it this way, he'll die because of you, and then you'll die with a clear conscience. So in a way, you'll be 'cleansed of your sins'." Feige winked at her colleagues and they laughed with her. Just then, a rumbling was heard and the red nightmarish volcanic wasteland outside began to have some sort of night blue atmosphere._

 _"As predicted, he is right on time!" Minuit said excitedly. Her excitement didn't last long, because the ceiling exploded and a blast of magic headed straight at Voldemort's face on the portrait. The mist cleared and in the room stood Artemis Nightmare, looking rather pissed as he aimed his scepter at Penna._

 _"You know I have a door, right?" Penna said when she saw the state of her ceiling. "Building a castle doesn't take me a week, you know."_

 _"Let...her...go," Artemis said in an angry voice that really indicated he was not in a good mood. His usual flowing night mist hair was now agitating like a raging fire._

"In a way, he kinda reminds me of you, Ben," Mal noted as they watched with concern what was going on the screen.

"Can't argue there," Ben said.

 _"Oh, I would since you're terrifying me with that stick of yours, but," Penna said sarcastically before snapping her fingers. "I just realized I haven't got the foggiest idea were Naga went! Now where could that silly snake have gone?"_

 _A scream of fright was heard. Artemis looked up and, much to his obvious horror, Naga had managed to slither up the metallic arm that held Lonnie and bared her fangs close enough to bite her. The alicorn prince's scepter began to glow as he planned to strike Naga._

"NO! He might hurt her!" Haya bursted from her seat and tried to reach for the screen.

"Don't you get it? Penna's got him stuck on her pinky because she could set up multiple ways for him to accidently harm Lonnie!" Kory held Haya back. "She knows he wouldn't dare to harm her!"

 _"Now hold on for a second, my good old foe!" Penna appeared in front of Artemis and pushed down his lowered his scepter with just her index finger. "You have to understand the possible mishaps that might occur: attempting to blast Naga will make her bite her venomous fang on your precious mortal, but if you manage to send that blast before my snake can bite, the odds that your lover will survive are down to negative five percent while Naga has more than full percentage of chances to survive. So do think carefully!"_

 _The immortal knight's eyes widened at the mental image of accidently killing Lonnie. The pressure convinced him to abandon his aiming._

 _"ARTEMIS, DON'T DO THIS! I'M NOT WORTH IT!" Lonnie begged despite Naga hissing in her ear with a tone that told Lonnie she'd better shut up._

 _"I told you before that I would murder myself if I harmed you, even by accident," he said quietly before going back to his business with Penna. "I'll hand over my mark of villainy to you only if you swear on the River Styx that none of you and your minions will ever harm Lonnie once I'm dead. If even one hair is pulled, you'll be in serious trouble, De Mort. The River Styx can easily nullify a pact if one end isn't fulfilled, and not only will my mark escape your clutches and your plans will be foiled, but I'll be revived and hunting you down for life!"_

 _"The things I do..." Penna muttered as she held her right hand on her heart and the left one in the air. "Fine. I, Penna De Mort, daughter of Lord Voldemort and the demon Svjetla, swear on the River Styx and on every Kraken Acupuncture Needle in my body that neither me nor my minions will harm the daughter of Mulan."_

 _"Mistress! You can't be serious!" Bayen exclaimed until Bloodyle kicked him to make him shut up._

 _"But for demanding me to spare such a mortal, I demand information as well as your mark," Penna told Artemis._

 _"Shoot," Artemis said._

 _"My ray was supposed to have snatched all the marks of villainy from Yaveske's descendants and yet his wouldn't rip off from his skin when the gypsy brothers tried shooting at him." Penna pointed at Martin Fiske. "Now why is that?"_

 _There was a moment of silence until Artemis Nightmare began to laugh in a rather cruel tone that surprised everyone, especially Lonnie, Ruby, and Penna._

 _"I guess you haven't done your homework thoroughly then, poor thing!" Artemis told her cruelly. "Haven't you learned that magic has no effect on another magic if the other magic is more ancient than the first? Dark gypsy magic may be very ancient enough to take all the marks of villainy of all the descendants you attacked, but the Mystical Monkey Power and the dark powers of the Yono that Monkey Fist had gained are magical forces even more powerful than dark gypsy magic and existed even before Prometheus created humans! Martin Fiske was born years after Monkey Fist got the powers, so they, along with some magic accidently transferred by the chaos spirit Discord when the latter freed Monkey Fist from his statue form, have managed to create a force field and immune system that make the son of Monkey Fist invulnerable."_

 _Penna looked beyond angry and clenched her fists right now._

 _"My word, were you hoping that you could take the mark of villainy that is the most powerful after mine and belongs to a villainous descendant who is much more dangerous than Maleficent's own offspring?" Artemis said smugly._

 _"Last minute flattery," Martin snickered from his bonds._

 _That was the last straw for Penna De Mort. She thrust her hand into Artemis' chest and forcefully pulled out something that caused Artemis to react as unstable as a nuclear bomb. Lonnie cried in despair as she watched her lover disintegrate himself into a misty explosion like a dying star while Penna held a glowing object in her hands shaped like an alicorn rising from the moon._

 _"Artemis Nightmare's mark of villainy...was his heart?" Ruby exclaimed._

 _"That is sick and wrong on so many levels!" Ronilda said._

 _"At last...I HAVE IT!" Penna laughed in uncontrollable mania as she aimed the physical mark of villainy at the pool of megassence. A shower of slithering lightening bolts came as the megassence moved towards the mark like creepy tendrils made of tar that lurked out of the pool and towards the horn of the mark's alicorn figure until the horn had fully absorbed it. "All of the darkest evil essences inherited from my ancestor, trapped in the seal of my arch-nemesis! I WILL FINALLY RULE THE UNIVERSE! JESSIE!"_

 _"Yes, boss!" Jessie said in a soldier pose._

 _"Get your hyenas!"_

 _"Yes, boss!" Jessie whistled loud until a herd of hyenas bursted their way in._

 _"Have them take the intruders as well as the useless boys to the Fire Pit!" she told her before addressing her other minions. "And bring along the other prisoners. They will be with us to witness the execution of those six!"_

 _"Execution? But you swore on the River Styx that you and your minions wouldn't harm Lonnie!" Karlos Python exclaimed as he and Charles got pinned down by so many hyenas._

 _"True." Penna said smugly. "But I didn't swear that Jessie's superbly trained hyenas wouldn't do the job for us to hang Lonnie and the rest of you to your dangling deaths while you six meet a nice, fiery death through a nice, hot steaming bath made of volcanic lava! The hyenas aren't my minions but Jessie's, so they don't count!"_

 _"Can't argue there," Jessie agreed._

 _"Ugh. To think that I complained last year about not getting to use a jacuzzi," Ronilda groaned._

"This is bad," Mal said. "This is really, really, REALLY bad!"

"Now that Penna has all the marks of villainy and Artemis Nightmare is dead, what are we going to do?" Doug said.

"I wish I knew..." Ben whimpered as he saw he failed to give all the VKs a chance at happiness.


	86. Get Back Up Again

Chapter 86: Get Back Up Again

Usually, when people talk about a fire pit, they talk about an outdoor grill used to cook barbecue.

Unfortunately, the Fire Pit in Penna De Mort's lair was ten times worse than the one used for cooking. It was an outdoor ash black arena that would but any Roman arena to shame, but instead of the usual bare field where athletes would compete in physical events, a large pit full of hot, steaming volcanic lava was pouring from the rivers of Vesuvius into the pit through pipes. Instead of a crowd of fans cheering the athletes from the bleachers, the bleachers were full of monsters under Penna's rule howling, roaring, and doing other sounds of evil amusement as a large crane, being powered by Jessie's hyenas as they ran the mechanism like wild hamsters in a ball, lifted Ruby, Lonnie, Ronilda, Martin, Karlos, and Charles to dangle above the lava while their hands were shackled to the crane's hook. The only one who was crazily shacked was Martin, for the villains had made sure he got chains that perfectly shackled both his fingers and toes in order to prevent him from trying to free himself in any form of monkeyish technique.

"Can't we at least negotiate?" Finius tried to ask in a form of desperation while he, Eleanor, Jane and the trapped VKs were still stuck in their cage, and the inactive unknown reformees in their cargo tank, as they watched the execution from the Emperor's platform with Penna and the rest of her gang. Ingwer, who was the most afraid of fire, tried to watch as far away from the lava as possible.

"Sorry," Penna said cruelly. She held on to a small black, snake designed chest containing her new weapon as if she were the Evil Queen holding the box that the Huntsman claimed to contain Snow Whites heart. "Most of these six either pose a threat to me or are no longer valuable, so we will witness their execution right now. But as for the rest of you, you'll be living long enough to witness everything you love being destroyed, starting with everyone on the Isle of The Lost."

All the VKs gasped in horror. So that was another good reason why Minuit Sparkle had tampered with the barrier! That way, with all the villains trapped with no possible escape, the daughter of Voldemort could easily wipe out all the existing villainous population in the globe.

"A good dose of baking soda and..." Dårlig dropped a bag of baking soda the size of a twin XL mattress into the Fire Pit. His action resulted with lava bursting like small geyser eruptions. The six trapped descendants had to bend upward in desperation in order to avoid getting hit by the flying lava. "BINGO!"

"Did you ever consider becoming a royal executioner as well as royal chef, Dårlig?" Penna asked. "Because I can definetly picture you using your grills for bonfires."

"Now I'm going to know what it was like for Auntie Esmeralda when my father put a burning touch at a bunch of hay near her toes!" Charles whimpered as sweat began to trickle down his neck like melting ice cream.

"Ages ago, my father tried to kill Stoppable Senior by putting him in a cage and leveling it down into Mt Fuji," Martin muttered. "To think that now I'm stuck in such a dramatic end with the junior."

"Could have been worse." Ronilda shrugged. "Imagine if you were stuck with DNAmy's kid rather than me."

Martin's body tensed. "I'd rather break my vegetarian eating and choke myself with Mystery Meat rather than thinking about my fate with you!"

"Unless you two know a way out of getting grilled alive, will you please quit bickering?" Ruby groaned in exasperation as she struggled to free herself from their chains.

Meanwhile, Lonnie hadn't said a word since she witness Artemis Nightmare get exploded out of existence after he got his mark of villainy pulled out by Penna's fingers. Her expression was still devastated and didn't even bother to fight back when they had been forced to be bound to the crane that would plunge them to their deaths.

"Hey, you OK?" Ronilda, who was stuck on Lonnie's left.

"Who was I kidding?" Lonnie whimpered. She shed a tear that met the lava. "I don't even know what made me think that I could save my friend Cassie from Penna's clutches. I don't know what made me think that I could solve everyone's problem just because I'm a descendant of Yves as well as being the daughter of a cross-dressing woman who took down an army with just one cannon!" She cried even more. "Artemis is dead and it's all my fault!"

"Hey, don't feel that way," Ruby said. "I thought a similar thing when I found out that I was a reformee. I could have made things easier for myself by jumping off a cliff, but I didn't. Death doesn't rid guilt forever. _Trying_ , however, shows that you had courage to step up despite the limits people tried to push on you."

" _And if any decent person remembers what happens today when everything falls into De Mort's dystopia, they'll be remembering you for attempting an honorable thing_ ," Karlos added. Lonnie could feel her tears drying it and it wasn't from the volcano.

"I'm positive Artemis Nightmare would have been proud of you," Martin said as well.

"Thanks, you guys..." Lonnie said quietly before chuckling. "Probably weird by now, but thanks for being my last minute friends!" They chuckled a bit with her.

"Technically, I don't count because I knew you already, Fa Li," Charles joked.

 _Oh, I realize_

 _It's hard to take courage_

 _In a world full of people._

 _You can lose sight of it all._

 _And the darkness inside you_

 _Can make you so small._

"Uh, what was it?" Charles head perked up when he thought he heard something whispering a song.

"Wait a moment, I got it!" Ronilda realized excitedly. The others looked at her with confusion.

"Any last words before you get fried?" Penna shouted from a megaphone. The monstrous audience roared again in enthusiasm as he taunted her victims.

"I do!" Ronilda called out. "Can you drop me into the lava first rather than have me deal with my annoying ex?"

"Committing suicide? Are you **INSANE**?" Martin bursted the words out of his mouth with complete shock.

"Aw, you do care," Ruby teased him. Martin blushed in embarrassment.

"That can be arranged." Penna walked towards the cage containing the trapped VKs and grabbed Diego by the collar so that she could snatch one of his boomerangs away from their owner.

"Hey, that's my property!" the son of Captain Boomerang cried angrily. Penna simply ignored him and she handed the boomerang to Jessie, giving her a calm glare that told her to throw the boomerang at Ronilda's chain. "Jess, please. We're friends," Diego pleaded. Sadly, even though he and Jessie had been childhood friends due to Harley Quinn and Captain Boomerang being part of the Suicide Squad and great moments had been spent between Jessie and Diego, Jessie had been best raised by Penna De Mort than by the Joker and Harley Quinn, so her brief moment of hesitation dissolved, courtesy of her dedication to her boss. After gaining a good position, she aimed the boomerang at the chain and threw it perfectly well enough for it to hit its target and return to Jessie's hands . The targeted chain broke in half and soon Ronilda was screaming as she fell down to her fiery doom. The five next victims shut their eyes to avoid looking at the horror while the villains cheered and Penna looked triumphantly...

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

And Ronilda flew upward from the Fire Pit from some sort of rainbow blast that exploded with sparkles. The blast flew far enough to hit the chains holding the five others and making them fall. They expected to land in lava, but instead found themselves on something.

"WHAT?" Penna choked out her ghastly horrified surprise. The lava from the Fire Pit was gone and instead stood a solid field of...

"Green grass and flowers?" Ruby rubbed her head in confusion when she found herself standing on green grass and differently colored gladiolas.

"Cupcakes shaped like mushrooms?" Charles frowned when he picked one up and dared to bite it. "Ooh! Tastes like chocolate!"

Martin picked up a green book from the ground and dared to open it. Much to the deeper confusion and amusement of some, it was a pop-up scrapbook of him, Ruby, Ronilda, Lonnie, Carlos, and Charles with big silly smiles as they stood on a bunch of smiling clouds under a rainbow and shouted 'WE DID IT!' while spitting glitter at his face.

" _Nice facial_ ," Karlos snorted.

"Very funny," Martin muttered.

"AAAAAHH!" Ronilda crash-landed onto the grass and sat up, her hair in a complete mess. She looked like she had been electrocuted and sprayed glitter at the same time. A figure jumped next to her, standing on her tiptoes and positioning herself as if she were a majorette.

"NAILED IT!" She said giddily. The girl was a seventeen-year-ol lavender skinned humanoid who wore a rain and cloud themed blue dress with a puffy skirt decorated with purple droplet gems that went down to her hips, green sleeves made of see-through gossamer and designed with blue flowers, a rainbow girdle belt that outlined her waist very well, and a pointy color made of blue-gradient leaves. Under her dress, she wore teal leggings and jeweled, vine themed green sandals that exposed the hot pink nail polish her toes had. Her jewelry included two purple bracelets on her left arm, blue flower earrings, and a green tiara that seemed familiar to Ruby and Lonnie. A dark blue and teal elastic was used to tie up her magenta and sky blue streaked hair into a rising but elegant ponytail. The girl also wielded a torch burning with a rainbow flame that didn't seem to blow itself away even though she waved it around so much.

"A...Another Troll?" Feige gasped as the crowd (except the caged ones) tried to get a better look at the strange humanoid.

"Get back up again, Ron!" the torch-wielding Troll told Ronilda as she urgently helped the ginger blonde get up. "We don't have all day, so let's do this!"

"Next time, please don't pull on the roots of my hair!" Ronilda grumbled as she straightened her hair.

"Can't blame me for clinging on just because you have short hair, silly," the Troll giggled.

"Wait a minute." Ruby blinked when she noticed the leaf-based tiara the Troll was wearing. "That crown...Lonnie, it's the same one!"

"I recognize it too!" Lonnie gasped.

Unfortunately, since Penna De Mort still had an emotional link to her separated good half, she howled in horror when she realized what the crown contained.

"YOU BROKE MY MIRROR! YOU GOT **HER** OUT!" She screamed insanely. "AND YOU PUT IT IN THAT TROLL'S TIARA!"

"Did you seriously I was dumb enough to put it in an object that I would place inside my pocket?" Ronilda snorted until a spotted naked mole rat popped its little head out of her pant's left pocket and exclaimed: "Hey!" "No, not you, Reedy," Ronilda reassured her rodent before going back to her topic. "Anyway, I hid the tiara with Penelope in it in the one place you wouldn't think of searching with the non-human assistance no one would expect me to have other than my naked mole rat!"

"Moi!" The Troll girl curtsied as if she were in a theatrical play rather than on a flowery field surrounded by monsters. "Gladiola Trollkonge!"

" _Oh no_!" Dårlig gripped his chef's hat in frustration. "Not the daughter of the Troll King and Queen, Branch and Poppy!"

"Too bad, so sad," Gladiola smirked at Feige and Dårlig before pointing her torch at Penna. "And don't worry about a thing, Penna, there's no need to resort to violence!"

"I might vomit if she keeps making musical references," Martin whispered to Charles.

"Like everyone, you have happiness inside you, and you just need help to find it!" Gladiola kept saying cheerfully. "So once we have Lonnie, Ruby, and Ronilda insert your good half in you after removing one of your Kraken Acupuncture Needles, we can put an end to all this brutality and you can finally live a life of cupcakes and rainbows!"

Not even a cricket chirping could beat the awful silence that filled the arena. The daughter of Voldemort looked traumatically creeped out by Gladiola's speech. "I'd rather be brainwashed by my curse of a father than being turned into a sappy goodie that not even Auradon would want because I'm Voldemort's daughter!" she shrieked. "GET..." She got cut off when a giant magenta and sky blue fist made of hair punched her in the stomach and sent flying towards the cage and crash it to pieces, liberating the prisoners.

"Positively speaking, I tried the pacifist language of happiness first before using the universal language of hair fists!" Gladiola sighed as she cracked her knuckles and summoned her hair to go back into her usual ponytail. "Looks like we'll be doing it the hard way!"

"Ha! Think again, Troll vermin!" Bayen snickered. "We got an army!" The monsters howled in agreement with the son of Bellatrix until a bluish green glow grew from the cargo tank and made it explode, releasing the fourteen trapped reformees.

"Yeah, and we're fourteen antiheroes who are not only _ticked_ that you used us for bait, but _pissed_ that you _dared_ to harm _my_ best friend!" A blue-skinned girl with black hair and green streaks that were tied in a waist-long ponytail said angrily. The colors of the plasma energy her hands were creating were brightening the blue in her eyes and making her left cheek's scar stand out.

"Melgo! You're OK!" Ronilda exclaimed in relief.

"Drakken and Shego's daughter...best friends with the daughter of Kim Possible and her sidekick?" Buffy said in shock. "And first we hear that Monkey Boy was the latter's ex. What is _wrong_ with the world we live in?"

"Enough!" Penna flew above the crowd and held the box containing her weapon high in the air. "Army or not, I will rule the universe and get my revenge!"

"CIRCUS BARTOK, WE GO!"

Two of the reformees, a duo of two light-grey skinned girls with bat ears and bat wings made of cyan blue, golden glittery wing membranes and purple forearm and fingers, grabbed the crane's hook and swung themselves towards Penna in a perfect trapeze move far enough for one of the girls, the one with shoulder-length Prussian Blue hair, to kick the box out of the witch and send it flying at one of the castle towers' roof.

"Great job, Ariel and Hermia!" Ronilda threw her thumbs up in the air. "Love the trapeze show!"

" _Spasibo!_ " Ariel and Hermia said in perfect Russian as they swung their way down, made an air flip and landed next to Ronilda in perfect shape. "We aren't circus performers and part of the cheer squad for nothing!"

"GET THEM ALL!" Penna howled.

 _Moments later_

"So what's the plan again?" Tara Scam shouted as she used her expandable lasso earphones to lasso a bunch of Cyclopes by the ankles and send them tumbling into a lava river while Florence summoned giant carnivorous flowers to rise from the ground and smack down a bunch of Flying Furies.

"As I said," Cassie Mushu repeated. She had flown toward the dispersed descendants fighting monsters to spread them the message. "We need to have Penna De Mort lured out of the volcano and pinned down so that she can publicly be inserted with her good self and destroy all those monsters. Meanwhile, Havoc left to use his reality bending powers to destroy the barrier so that all the villains can escape...for now!" She spit fire out of her mouth at a Frost Giant that was heading towards them and melted it. "C'mon! A Frost Giant in a volcano? That doesn't make sense!"

"The same way it's only now that people realize we should use the son of Discord to take down the barrier?" Tara Sam shouted sarcastically. "And that now we get so desperate, it's now up to villains and reformees teaming up to save the world?"

At another corner of the battlefield, Sean was swatting off monsters like a bunch of flies with his tentacles. Things would have seemed too easy if Indimia Rex hadn't grabbed him by the tentacles, pulling him harshly that she could have easily ripped them off.

" **Sorry, dinosaur expert, but I can't let you live!** " the daughter of the Indominus Rex said sadistically. She pulled on harder, making Sean groan in pain and collapse on his knees.

"What about your mom?" Sean questioned her. "You don't care one bit that she might be destroyed in Penna's process of world domination?"

" **It's every dinosaur for himself in my species** ," Indimia said indifferently. A large blast of ice froze her completely, trapping her in an icy chunk stronger than an iceberg. Sean looked at his left and saw Fork with the Bartok sisters: the trio had just joined their icy powers to send Indimia back to the Ice Age through freezing and Ariel Bartok reducing her into pieces smaller than dices with her karate kicks. As of now, Indimia Rex was melting away and dying.

"Impressive ice powers, despite the fact that your dad is Bartok the Bat," Fork admitted to Hermia and Ariel.

"Eh. Our mom's also Periwinkle the frost fairy." Hermia shrugged.

"So, what can we say?" Ariel winked at her sister.

A few yards away, Lonnie, Ruby, Ronilda, Gladiola, Martin, Karlos, Melgo, and four other reformees were staring up at the tower that held the roof hosting the box Penna craved.

"Kowalski, progress report!" One of the reformees, a boy with greased black hair, black-and-white formal butler jacket, gloves, and shirt, orange bowtie, blue jeans, and black sneakers with orange soles, told to a redheaded black-streaked girl dressed almost like him except her butler jacket was black and sleeveless, her shoes were orange high heels, and she carried a digital abacus with her.

"Well, according to height factors and probability of certain death by either falling down or getting caught by the enemy, I'd say we have 75% of chances that one can climb up that tower and grab the target," she said after doing some calculations on her digital abacus. "And for the ten thousand, four hundred and fifty-fifth time, Rookie, I told you to call me Genny!"

"Have you really been counting them, Genny?" the youngest of the four butler-dressed reformees asked. He was a white haired thirteen-year-old boy with a blue-and-golden butler jacket and uniform, black knee high boots and royal blue socks, and a black headband designed like a high top hat. He could have been Charles Frollo's reformee counterpart, except this reformee had a British accent and managed to pull a traditional tea set out of nowhere and offer a steaming cup to Martin. "Some Prince Wales Tea? Made it myself."

"Private! Now's not the time to go all cute and cuddly with the Brit classics!" Rookie slapped the back of the boy's head after Martin had accepted the cup and was drinking it even though Ruby gave him a 'Seriously?' glare.

"Ugh. Why did Sparkle have to take the Penguin cousins as well? Why can I never be kidnapped with Oh Boyz?" Melgo rolled her eyes. Ronilda just shrugged.

"I bet I could climb up using my adamantium nails." Ruby agitated her nails.

"But didn't Medea say the adamantium in you feeds off your energy and can kill you if you use it too much?" Lonnie asked.

"OK, I _really_ need to have a chat with Proserpine about her crystal ball!" Ruby said annoyingly. "But I don't give a damn if I die!"

" _I_ give a damn!" Martin said angrily. He slammed his empty cup back on the tray held by the son of Private and grabbed Ruby by the arm. "Your suicidal mission gave me stress that not even meditation could remedy, so you nearly committing suicide yourself **is not an option! GOT IT!** " Ruby gulped and nodded, creeped out by his anger.

"Did...anyone tell you that you also have a hint of Hindi accent in your voice?" she chuckled nervously.

" _Beh_!" the fourth member of the Penguin Cousins Squad gagged. Unlike her cousins, she had greyish pale skin like those of a shark, black-and-white stripped hair pulled back in a spikey ponytail, a ripped rags, gothic attire that contrasted her cousins' butler attires. The scariest parts about her were that she had a long red scar that went down most of her face's left half, pointed teeth covered with braces that made her look like a shark, and a red handbag with hot motives of explosives symbols.

"Rico's right, troops!" Rookie said. "If we don't hurry up and blow this Hoover Damn, we'll end up as melted as Manfredi and Johnson during that fateful cruise trip to Te Fiti!"

"I thought you said he said that Manfredi and Johnson died in that whale shark tank in Atlanta." Gladiola frowned at Ronilda.

"Honestly, with all the numerous ways Rookie claims that those two died depending on the week we're living in, I could have sworn that I heard 52 excuses on how Manfredi and Johnson died." The latter rolled her eyes.

" _Well in case they died of poison, you ought to know that the roofs are venomous due to the tiles being made of basilisk fangs_ ," Karlos pointed out. His finger indicated the glowing fangs forming the roof that hosted the box trapping all the stolen marks of villainy. Karlos then turned at Lonnie and pinched at some of the fabric of the Hun clothes she was wearing. " _So either you didn't know that Huns wear poison-proof material clothing or you came here well prepared._ "

"What? I can't climb all the way there!" Lonnie exclaimed.

"Your parents climbed pillars of the Emperor's castle," Melgo pointed out.

"That doesn't mean I can!"

"Better idea!" Gladiola said suddenly. She waved her torch around, causing a twister of rainbow colors and glitter. " _I got this feeling, I got the power! Give me something to climb this tower!_ " A glittery rainbow blast sprung out of her torch and shot a flame towards the tower's roots so that a solid rainbow staircase emerged. "And voilà! Now we got a staircase that will take us to the box! And all it took me was a wave of the Torch of Happiness!" Gladiola smugly blew the imperishable flame of her torch.

Lonnie cautiously put a step on the rainbow and backed off when the area she stepped on disappeared. "I think your spell isn't working..." she said suspiciously.

"It's Troll magic, silly!" Gladiola giggled as if Lonnie had told a joke. "It only works if you think positively! So all you have to do is be positive as you go all the way up!"

"Does being positive about certain death count?" Martin asked sarcastically. The Troll princess simply ignored Martin and gave an encouraging nod. Lonnie took a deep breath and began to climb up the rainbow staircase. It was rather tricky, since the staircase was as soft as marshmallows, so Lonnie had to make sure that her body didn't accidently sink through it and fall. _Think positive, think positive_ , her mind thought as she climbed.

It seemed like forever until she reached the top. Pulling herself up on the roof was challenging, because while most of her body was covered with poison-proof material, her hands were bare, so she had to use Shan Yu's sword to crop the shirt she was wearing. It was rather revealing her midriff, but she was able to use the cut off cloth to wrap her hands like fingerless gloves.

Haya Yu was so going to murder her for ruining the former's clothes to save the world.

The box was only a few feet away from her. If she used the sword to support herself, walking towards it while remaining on this dangerously tilting roof could save her life. She took the safe option and managed to walk her way towards the box.

"Got it!" she exclaimed eagerly as she grabbed it.

" _Wingardium Leviosa!"_

Lonnie found herself levitating with her feet barely touching the tower's roof. Devil's Snare grew on the venomous tiles and upward like a tree to trap her limbs tightly, prompting her to let go of the box and have it fall into the hands of Bayen Lestrange.

"Thank you so much for the gift," he said sadistically . He chuckled when he saw Lonnie trying to break out of the Devil's Snare with no luck and mockingly pulled her cheek, rubbing her skin with his cold hands. "Rather shameful that I'm devoted to the mistress and you've been chosen by him, because I could imagine the possibilities of having you around if you were to survive in the New World."

Lonnie spat at him on the face. "Penna downright told you that you mean nothing to her, Bayen. So why the hell do you keep serving her even though she explicitly stated that she cares nothing about you or the other Death Eater offspring?" Where was Penna? Shouldn't the witch be busting her head off trying to find the box she desired? And who was Bayen referring to when he talked about 'him'?

"All in good time." Bayen's eyes then looked down at the area of the shirt she had cut off with the sword. His face was three inches away from hers and she could still smell his fowl breath as he licked his teeth. " _Diffindo Maxima!_ "

He shot his wand at her. Soon, two large threads came sticking out of her jacket and pants. Bayen grabbed each thread and began pulling them, unraveling the clothes rapidly to Lonnie's dismay.  
"NO, STOP!" she exclaimed. In less than a few seconds, the jacket disappeared and the cargo pants reached knee-length.

"Either you die with every bare part of you poisoned, or you beg for mercy and you'll still have enough cloth to make yourself appealing to him," Bayen said. Suddenly, the box containing the marks of villainy agitated itself and flew out of Bayen's hands. The young wizard looked as stunned as Lonnie when the box opened in front of him and a large flame of misty night blue magic exploded out of it, hitting Bayen with all the power it contained. A shrill scream that brought down almost every stalactite in the underground kingdom came out of his mouth as he burned away until not even a few ashes remained from Bayen Lestrange.

The Devil's Snare let go of Lonnie, who could now feel the volcano's intense heat hitting her skin exposed by her new cropped tank top (which, much to her dismay, looked more like a sports bra) and mini shorts that revealed the curve lines of her hips. _Note to myself_ , she thought. _Humiliation is inevitable if you're attractive_.

She grabbed the box containing the marks. Her hazel eyes stared at its slightly closed lid as she recalled what she had just seen. That magic that just came out and wiped Bayen out of existence, was this the power of destruction that Penna was craving? Or was it perhaps the sentience of a certain mark she thought came from...

"Artemis?" she asked. Unable to rest her doubts, she opened the lid. As her eyes saw the contents of the box, her eyes suddenly changed from hazel to a Han blue.

 _Minutes later_

"Enjoy my father's poker game, you witch!" Proserpine said. She and Charles threw their fireballs together at Brittany Crouch. Roedor Pettigrew, who couldn't stand being parted from his love, jumped in to join her and now the two minions met the flames of the angry VKs. So far the battle seemed to be progressing on the 'good' side: more than 80% of the monster army had been vanquished through the teamwork of villainous descendants and reformees.

"Phew! I hope that's over with the Death Eaters!" Charles sighed. A whacking noise was heard from behind them. Proserpine and Charles got out of the way in order to let Drystan Troy Umbridge fall on the ground after one of the reformees, a brunette girl with hints of orange dyed hair dressed in a red shoulder dress covering her gray, yellow patterned jumpsuit, syrup brown knee high heeled boots, a right black fingerless glove and a left black opera glove, had whacked Drystan Troy on the head with her freeze ray gun.

"Better watch your back," she said in an Eastern European accent. She hung her freeze ray back on her navy blue belt. "I'm Felindra, by the way."

"Please tell me you're not related to the tiger tamer," Proserpine begged as she recalled the misfortune she had to deal with back in Fort Boyard.

"I wish, but I can't even deal with my own dog thingy Weirdball back home," Felindra said. "Nah, I'm Felindra Gru-Wilde. You know, daughter of the ex-villain Felonious Gru and the Anti Villain League agent Lucy Wilde?"

"Yeah, your dad was one of those too-many-minions bad guys." Charles rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you brought any with you."

"I wish," Felindra said bitterly, "but all the ones I have went to a beach disco party right when I needed them. Now come on, we have to join the others. We said to gather by the entrance of this wasteland before Rita Rico unleashes the bombs."

"You people want to blow up an active volcano?" Proserpine exclaimed as they began to run through the rumble. "How insane are you people?"

"Look on the bright side, they say that volcanic eruptions are good to make vegetation grow again!" Charles said. After several minutes of minutes, they managed to find the others gathering by the entrance.

"Listen up, everyone!" Ruby called out! "Havoc Discord managed to get the barrier broken! As of right now, he and the three Auradonians are helping the villains get out. We have to join them as soon as possible before this place blows in fifteen minutes!"

"Not everyone's here!" Cassie Mushu exclaimed in worry. "Where's Lonnie?"

Just as she said that, something exploded above the castle and flew towards the ceiling of the underground kingdom. The descendants were nearly crushed by the falling boulders until something stopped them from death from a possible landslide. They looked up and saw Penna De Mort walking towards them with her remaining minions, Jessie Joker, Minuit Sparkle, Bloodyle Silisk, Feige Blomstroll, and Dårlig Bergen. Penna was using her magic to prevent the boulders from crushing them and clenched her fists to reduce them to ash.

"Where's our friend?" Ruby demanded.

"That's what I want to know!" Penna said angrily. "She took off with the box containing my weapon!"

"That can't be right," Cassie said. "Lonnie isn't the kind of person of just ditch her friends behind and steal magic."

"Gee, you should have told her that before she blasted Lestrange into oblivion!" Dårlig said. "Feige and I saw him getting exploded by that Chinese girl with night magic!"

"Night magic?" Ruby frowned. "Penna, do marks of villainy gain...sentience should they ever be removed from their owners' bodies?"

"Not that I know of," the daughter of Voldemort said in a confused tone.

"Hang on, maybe I can find something!" One of the reformee boys pulled out a manuscript from his blue, green leaf-pattern toga and flipped through the pages. Judging by the fact he was flipping the pages from right to left, it must have been written in Arabic or something. "Ah, here it is!" He pointed at one of the pages. " _'Extraction of Marks of Villainy and how the Villains Comet can factor'_."

"Your book seriously has that, Othello?" Genny Kowalski asked suspiciously.

"Hey, my dad may be Iago, but my mom Thundra is a goddess, and unlike some of us, she can fly," Othello snapped at Genny, who grimaced at the insult of her coming from a flightless bird species. Othello read from his book as fast as he could. "'So you want to create a megassence from extracted marks of villainy so that you will become invincible. This is an achievable act. Almost any mark of villainy can be used for the process, and the spell could be stronger if the marks' hosts are distantly connected to the same family tree. The main tools you need to make the megassence are an extraction spell performed by ancient magic- dark gypsy magic is most preferable- and a godly mark of villainy, which appears as a solid object to contain all the marks you have collected.'"

"That's what I did," Penna confirmed. "But..."

"Wait a second!" Othello gasped as he read on. "'But even though this weapon is very powerful, it also the most dangerous. Once you put the relic on your chest, all the evil essence emitted from the marks of villainy will slowly corrupt your entire being to the point where you become an emotionless demon with no sense of sympathy and a sadistic thirst of blood. Even being near the relic could turn a good person who has never committed any crime into an evil monster. This is why this spell is very dangerous, especially if it is done during the presence of the Villains Comet. Usually, simply having the relic removed an destroyed from your chest can save you, but if you still have it on you after the comet spends its usual two hours of blocking the sun of your planet, the transformation will be permanent. You will have lost your will and mind. Anybody could possess or enslave you.'"

They all said nothing. Penna looked the most devastated by far. She dropped on her knees, her eyes staring blankly at the ground, and her lips trying desperately to not whimper.

"Your old man must have planned all of this," Tara Sam concluded. "The prophecy thing, the pact with your demon mother, raising you to make sure you became as unloving and unloved as he was, and now this...He must have figured that he could manipulate you if you did all this so that he could destroy everything he hates, create his own perfect world full of pureblood wizards, and dispose of you once you became useless."

" _I can't believe I'm saying this, but Scam's logic is actually logical_ ," Bloodyle confessed as she bent down to give a comforting rub on Penna's mark.

"Dead for decades," Penna muttered. Solid tears fell down her cheeks and cracked on the floor. "Trapped in the Limbo for eternity, and even today, Voldemort still manages to ruin my life... **AGAIN**!" Penna shouted out loud, making her screams echo on the walls. " **I JUST WANT TO BE HAPPY AND THIS IS WHAT I GET?** "

"Happiness isn't something you take." Gladiola said. She poked Penna on the chest. "It's already here. Sometimes you just need someone to help you find it." She aimed her torch at her spare hands, making a pile of two incredibly full folders appear. "And don't deny you didn't feel happiness in the last twenty years!"

"Hey, that's mine!" Penna protested as she tried to grab the folders, but Gladiola 'accidently' dropped them and revealed the folders' contents: handmade cards, shot photos, papers, and other personal crafts.

"What?" Minuit gasped. She picked some of the archived works and flipped through. "All my report cards and the drawings I made since I was in preschool?"

"It's not what you think!" Penna hopelessly denied.

"The Mothers' Day cards that I gave you ever since you took me in!" Jessie held up a bunch of cards.

"All the pictures of all those potlucks you said you hated," Dårlig said. He pulled up a class photo. "You said you thought Dragon Hall yearbook pictures were a wasteful pile of junk!"

"Penna, why on earth do you keep all this stuff? You claimed you destroyed them!" Feige demanded an explanation as did all the glares of every other descendant.

"Because no one would have taken me seriously if they knew!" Penna said bitterly. "I'm the daughter of the most heartless villain that ever existed and no one ever believed in me whenever I expressed my feelings because they all thought I was a lie spreader like Voldemort. My biological mother died before I could even learn to love her like any daughter, Voldemort never cared for me, my foster basilisk family got reduced to one either because Voldemort let his foes kill them or sold them off to the black market or killed them, and I ended up murdering the one guy I had a crush on. I grew up friendless and the only fucking creatures that bothered to care about me were snakes! What's the point of having a family or friends if nobody believes they are and that you're only good at being evil and bossing minions around?"

"But Penna, that's the whole point of the last twenty years, wasn't it?" Ruby asked calmly as she walked towards Penna to face her. "None of us are our parents' perfect image and none of us were accepted in certain societies until we put the effort. Even before I found out that my dad was a billionaire and therefore I a reformee, I didn't think I'd fit anywhere, that I was a failure. But I've encountered people, friends or boyfriend, enemies or annoying teachers, and through them I realized that I could fit in if I was willing to accept it." She turned to face Ingwer, Sean, Fork, and Proserpine. "I might have spent a bunch of time with other supervillain kids, but you guys were with me since day one, and honestly, spending almost one month with you guys just to deal with insane monsters, a herd of wilderbeests, hyenas, moles, a crazy TV show, and a diva pony goddess who nearly nuked half of the Isle...You were the closest thing to a family that I ever had." Her friends grinned at her and she bear-hugged them.

"I know my dad got your mom arrested and that's why you have to live here in the first place..." Ruby began to tell Florence until the daughter of Poison Ivy made her shut up with a hug.

"I don't give a damn about blood. You're still my best friend," Florence said as she pulled back, "but if you try to make me cry with one of those friendship is magic speeches, I _will_ intoxicate you with a lethal peony!"

"I'll keep that in mind!" Ruby chuckled. The others followed in as well, including Penna, who chuckled slightly.

"Timer! Timer!" Rita Rico told Rookie Skipper.

"Great Hoover Damn! We gotta wrap this up, otherwise Rico said that we'll turn into gazpacho in five minutes!"

"But we have to get Lonnie first!" Ronilda said. "Otherwise, she'll turn into a mindless zombie!"

"And according to what I read," Othello said after quickly checking his manuscript before tucking it back in his toga, "the relic has to be destroyed by the one who created it in the first place. Snake Lady, you created it, so you have to destroy it!"

Penna nodded. "Understood."

"But to be clear, just because you were a pawn of your dad's work doesn't mean you are getting away this easily." Gladiola tapped on her tiara. "Once Lonnie is saved, you have to let her, Ronilda, and Ruby insert your good half back in you. Then you can destroy the relic."

"But what if no one wants me even if I get my halves back together?" Penna asked anxiously.

"Three minutes!" Rookie warned.

"You'll have us!" Jessie reassured her by hugging her arm. "Just send us all out of here to where Lonnie is!"

"She's currently in Dragon Hall," Tara Sam checked her XSFD mobile phone.

"One minute!" Rookie warned.

They all disappeared by the time the hole castle exploded and Mt Vesuvius errupted.


	87. A Hunt to Shocking Revelations

Chapter 87: A Hunt to Shocking Revelations

Penna had teleported them all the way to the front steps of Dragon Hall. Usually, on a normal day, the streets of the neighborhood where the school was located would be packed with villains going to work or VKs going off on another exciting day to learn evil things. But since everyone had to be evacuated from the Isle, the place was awfully silently that not even the passing crows could break the silence.

Ever since Dragon Hall was closed due to the endless attacks, chains had been used to lock the gates shut, but now they looked as if somebody ran a vehicle through them and into the school's outdoor sign. Much to Ronilda's frustration, it was the motorcycle she had taken all the way to the Isle.

"Clearly nobody respects good quality vehicles anymore," Ronilda muttered as they walked up the steps. Havoc Discord was waiting for them by what appeared to be the school doors, only it could be suggested that someone managed to punch their way through them.

"Everyone's out except for a life source in here," he said. "Usually, I'd be fine with chaos, but not extremely dramatic chaos like this."

"And that's coming from the guy who didn't even bother to burst himself out of a cargo tank," Ariel Bartok muttered. "Sometimes I wonder what's the point of you being..." She stopped talking when she suddenly fell into a puddle of melted caramel that wasn't there before. A work of art from the humanoid draconequus, no doubt. The reformees glared at him, warning him to knock it off.

"Nobody has a good sense of chaos," he mumbled. He snapped his fingers to make the melted caramel puddle go away (although he didn't bother removing the caramel now staining Ariel). Havoc's rather off eyes then noticed Martin. "Nice to see you're healthy, Fiske boy," he said in a creepy cheerful tone.

"Same here," Martin said. But unlike his usual times when he would snap at someone for insulting him, he seemed actually terrified of Havoc Discord.

"Don't forget you owe me!" Havoc said in a singsong voice before he walked through the broken doors. "Okeydokey, let's do this!"

"Is he always like this?" Otrera asked.

"Nah, he just does it to people who 'owe' him," Othello Traviesa explained as they went inside as well.

"Havoc's father is the one who broke my father Monkey Fist out of his statue imprisonment and cancelled the Yono contract with ancient magic," Martin sighed grimly. "But for liberating my father from both a life of stone and the life of a dark host, Discord sent the receipt: I have to be his 'friend' for a total amount of ten years."

"Just being friends? That's it?" Proserpine frowned. "Usually a god makes you serve them for eternity or something. The only thing that you need to do is be Havoc's friend?"

"Think again, Havoc's still dealing with making friends issues like his father did after reformation due to his chaotic antics," Ronilda said. She turned to Melgo. "Remember that time when he had Sparrowfire Grayson be his friend for two weeks in exchange for helping that jerkass of a jock with that history test Barkin gave?"

"Grayson met humiliation head first in a man hole after he insulted Havoc's taste in karaoke night," Melgo sighed happily. "Probably Best Day of my life number 1324."

They all got inside and met the new austere environment of the school. Ever since it was shut down, none of the floors had been cleaned and there were broken pipes on the ceiling, which caused endless noises of water trickling. Spiders seemed to have taken the opportunity to invade the open doorways with their webs, the lockers and walls' graffiti artworks committed by students in the past were losing their colors, the lamps were broken, making the light coming from the windows as the only light source, and the TV screens and speakers that were used for the broadcastings of VILLAINIUM and UNHOLY GAZETTE were severely damaged.

"Good old Dragon Hall," Charles mumbled. Suddenly, the light began to darken. Some of the descendants turned to see the outdoor sky change its bright blue color into a dark blue hue with threatening streaks of black and red. Cassie Mushu quickly morphed into a dragon to fly out and came back a few seconds later.

"The sun's blocked out by the comet," she said as she morphed back into her normal form. "The entire city is covered by that bloody light!"

"The Villains Comet came right at noon," Penna De Mort said as she observed a pocket watch she had magically summoned. "If we don't get Lonnie out of her transformation and destroy the relic before 2pm, she'll be gone forever."

"Then let's go!" Cassie began to fly ahead until Ronilda grabbed her by the tail and let gravity force her back down.

"Desperation to save your human won't tell you which way you need to go," Ronilda chided Cassie. "Do you have something of Lonnie's that you possess?"

Cassie went through her martial arts clothing until she pulled out a medallion-like locket representing a red Chinese dragon. She opened up the lid, revealing a bunch of preserved teeth. "Guardians preserve physical tokens of their mortals and wear them in medallion lockets to confirm they lifelong dedication to the mortals. These are all of Lonnie's baby teeth and the ones she had to get removed when she got her braces back when she was twelve."

"Minus the disgusting story of bonding, they'll do." She put two fingers in her mouth and unleashed a cop's annoying whistle that made everyone block their ears. All except for one of the reformees, who crawled her way out of the others and towards Ronilda. Unlike the other teenagers, she was small enough to be the age of an eight-year-old, which she actually was, and she seemed even more inhuman than the Bartok sisters or Havoc Discord. She looked like a four-armed humanoid with bright pink skin, small dangling antennae, pitch black eyes similar to those of bugs, and bright blue neck-length punk hair. If it weren't for her bright blue and glittery space halter dress, gladiator wedge shoes, fingerless fishnet gloves, loop earrings, purple lipstick, and tacky pink cheek makeup, she could have passed off as a genetic freak from a carnival.

"Ew! What the heck is that?" Buffy exclaimed in disgust until François smacked her hand with his cane, warning her to shut up. The creature growled and nearly pounced until Ronilda held her back before it went to crawl behind Penna and hug her legs for protection, confusing the witch.

"That's Expertina. She's Stitch and Angel's daughter and she's eight-years-old, so she's rather sensitive," Felindra said.

"I thought St Luther's was a high school," Ingwer said as she cautiously walked towards Expertina and offered a gentle hand to caress her. Without removing herself from Penna, Expertina suspiciously sniffed the foreign hand before she happily let Ingwer caress as if the former were a puppy rather than an experiment. "Aw, aren't you adorable?" Ingwer cooed as she began scratching behind the ears of the child who began to make a weird giggle of excitement.

"St Luther's is more of a all-level school that go from pre-K to high school seniors," Hermia said. "But Expertina is a jumpee."

"Jumpee?" Manny frowned. "That's not a word in the dictionary."

"And neither is 'reformee'," Hermia said drily. "So while you villains make up a word to refer to us in a style that indicates you don't like us, we antiheroes make up a word to talk about kids who jump upper school levels because of special talents or superior IQ numbers that surpass those of their age. And Expertina here is currently a freshman because she's a jumpee with a knack of hacking into computers and other electronic devices."

"Yeah well we're not here to have Expert hack into computer systems and find the next season designs of Club Banana but to use her superhuman scent tracking nose." Ronilda snatched a tooth from Cassie's medallion despite the latter's protest and showed it to Expertina. "Sniff," she told the experiment.

" _E kope?_ " Expertina asked.

"She can't talk in English fully yet," Melgo said. "She can only speak Hawaiian and some foreign alien language fluently, but she does understand other languages."

"I'll give you my lifelong discount." Ronilda pulled out a golden credit card and waved it in front of Expertina. "629 of those, just like your experiment number..."

" _Kope!_ " Expertina clapped her hands in excitement before sniffing the tooth. " _Hanu aku la!_ " She instantly jumped on all six and began to run down the hall, sniffing the ground and air like a six-legged dog.

"Quick! Follow her! Gladiola, use your torch to light the way!" Ronilda ran after Expertina. The descendants soon began to run after her through the hallways, which got darker and more humid. Gladiola held her torch up as she ran in front of the line with Proserpine and Charles using their firepowers as well to give them some light.

"Hey, Ronilda? What was that lifelong discount you promised Expertina?" Ruby asked as they ran.

"Discount for Wonka Latte, one of the most insanely popular coffee shops in all the stores that cover the globe!" Ruby shouted as she ran. "Expertina just _loves_ coffee!"

"Are you insane?" Melgo nearly shrieked. "She gets hyperactive like her dad whenever she drinks too much coffee, and with all those blasted credit and discount cards your folks give you every year, you're going to give _all_ your 629 Wonka Latte discount cards to her? Did you forget what happened to the gymnasium after Expertina gobbled even a package of decaf coffee?"

"I never use those cards and next time you give me another idea of how to motivate an experiment!"

"No wonder you're in that school," Martin mumbled.

Suddenly, the group came to a halt. They were now in the Hallow Eye, the large area that formed an indoor cylindrical shape that was tall enough to fit the spiral staircase that many students at Dragon Hall had used to quickly go to the floors they needed to access for their next classes.

"Aye, this place reminds me of the staircase we have back at the ol' Luther," one of the reformees, Jonathan Sparrow the son of Jack Sparrow, said. Expertina stopped at the center of the room and took a long sniff in the air.

" _Ikaika ala_ ," she said. " _He maanei._ "

"Stronger smell. Is here," Ronilda translated. "Apparently Lonnie is somewhere here.

"LONNIE!" Cassie began to shout out loud in desperation. "LONNIE!"

"Shut up!" Ronilda hissed while covering her mouth. "If she's been morphed into being emotionless, she might not give a damn if you're her guardian trying to save her."

"Only an hour and a half left until the transformation is complete." Penna pondered. "Let's see. If I were brainwashed and still not permanently transformed into an emotionless demon zombie, what would lure _me_ out of my hiding place? Maybe an object of my own creation? Wait, that's it! Jessie, slam the center of the floor design for me with your mallet!" She pointed at the dragon patterned mosaic floor.

"You want me to hit the floor?" Jessie asked as she walked towards the area that Penna was referring.

"Yes! On the dragon you are standing on, look at its left wing. Look very carefully at the wing design and hit any of the hidden symbols you can find."

"Are you talking about the weird triangle?"

"Yes! Hit it!"

Jessie Joker obeyed her and struck the floor with her mallet. The ground began to shake and the mosaic tiles on the floor began to move like a mechanism, breaking the dragon patterns so that they could form one of a giant triangle cut in half by an inner line while an oval rested at the base. Jessie's mallet was positioned on the oval, which began to choke out dust clouds as it lifted upward, revealing a hidden cylindrical glass vault about Penna's height holding an object resting on a green pillow. Penna walked towards the vault and smashed it with just one fist, giving her space to pick up the object that turned out to be a dark green and silver tie with some sort of snake emblem on it.

" _Your Slytherin tie from your old uniform back when you studied at Hogwarts? Are you insane, Penna? Why on Earth have you hidden that Horcrux in this public place?_ " Bloodyle demanded.

"What, you wanted me to put it in an obvious place like my bedroom?" Penna scoffed before going back to the topic. "I hid one of my sixteen Horcruxes here when I helped construct Dragon Hall back in the Isle's first days. Aside from the fact that I need to dispose of a Horcrux in exchange for getting rid of a Kraken Acupuncture Needle, there's is a high-chance that not even a brainwashed zombie can resist dragging its limbs towards an artifact of powerful magic like a shard of my soul. If I use this, maybe we can lure Lonnie out."

"Forgive me if I'm wrong," Othello asked as he flipped through his manuscript, "but usually one can't destroy a Horcrux without some magical weapon of destructive nature. So what are the chances that, in her condition, Lonnie may..."

"I dipped my Horcruxes in the River Styx as soon as I created my last one." Penna grimaced at the mention of her last Horcrux. "I've hidden them in sixteen objects that I cherish. The process has made my 'soul jarring' immune to any kind of possible destruction except from my own hands, and since my Horcruxes are connected to my mark of villainy's needles, destroying a Horcrux will soften things a bit and I won't be screaming the living vipers out of me."

Feige whistled and clapped her hands along with the rest of Penna's gang. "Pure genius," she sighed.

"And I thought my dad was paranoid," Gladiola mumbled. She briefly looked down at her feet, only to notice something that wasn't on the floor before: a dark puddle the size of her thumb that seemed to grow at every new droplet dripping from above.

"You are aware that in exchange of getting your full soul back, you have to use to use the shard of any Horcrux soul you possess to save a dying soul?" Proserpine asked skeptically. "And I know that as Hades' daughter."

Gladiola bent down and dipped a finger in the strange puddle. She took a sniff out of it and recognized the odors of tar, gasoline, and...

"Blood," she realized. She instantly got up and used her torch to blast a jet of light that exploded all over the Hallow Eye like a bunch of fireworks. Before anyone could ask her what the hell she was doing, Gladiola's fireworks turned into rows of light balls that lightened each of the Hallow Eye's floor levels like hypnotizing spirals, revealing a terrifying creature floating above them. The creature was made of moving tendrils black as the megassence and red as blood like a bunch of monstrous worms wiggling and twisted their bodies to form an evil version of a dark hanfu dress. Its hands were drier than those of a corpse and its black hair with slight hints of red dye sprung from its head like a bloody porcupine's quills. But the scariest part of the creature was its face: it was hidden by a mask that looked like a familiar face, only it was made of white porcelain as pale as death with ink paintings on it to make it look like the pale skin had bleeding black cuts, black lips, and blank black eyes that revealed no emotion.

"Holy Galileo..." Genny Kowalski gasped. "I'm going to have nightmares for the rest of my life..."

"Look! On the chest!" Charles pointed at the creature, who growled when he pointed at the thing the creature had pinned on its chest. "The relic!"

"Lonnie?" Ruby struggled to gasp the words out of her mouth. The creature looked angrily at her, making Ruby wince and Martin grab her for protection.

"Ancestors forgive me!" Cassie dropped on her knees and whimpered at the possessed Lonnie. "I feel the link in that...that...Lonnie, please, snap out of this! This isn't you!"

As if to confirm Cassie's statement, the demonic Lonnie raised her hand in the air, making her tendrils move and morph into a crooked sword that she began to swing down at the poor guardian. Fortunately, Cassie avoided decapitation when Diego tossed one of his boomerangs at Lonnie, slicing off her hand.

"Ha! Beat that, mate!" Diego said as he caught his boomerang. Unfortunately, there was no victory, because Lonnie grew a new hand wielding more than ten boomerangs that made Diego drop his along with his jaw.

"How did she do that?" Florence exclaimed. The demonic Lonnie began to aim at them.

"Forget how she's doing it! DISPERSE!" Ronilda said. All the descendants did as she said and moved in almost every inch of the Hallow Eye before the boomerangs could hit them.

"One hour and eight minutes until this twisted lady destroys us all and the rest of the universe!" Rookie shouted after checking a watch that Rita Rico had spit out of her stomach. "So let's hurry up before she manages to reach NYC!"

"Help me distract her!" Penna said. She flew up in the air and waved her tie at Lonnie. "Farm girl! Over here!" Lonnie growled and began to morph into a mass of boomerangs that began to chase Penna around in the air. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" she shrieked.

"Plant Girl, we need your green thumbs to help us get close enough to her!" Rookie told Florence.

"I'm on it!" She slammed the nearest wall with her fist, making a bunch of roots grow out of the walls of the level she was standing on and twist around Lonnie to trap the demon in a beanstalk cage. At Rookie's command, the four Penguin Cousins morphed into actual penguins that belly slid their way through the vines in order to reach Lonnie. The latter was more clever: she infiltrated her body inside the plants like a fluid and morphed herself into a dark giant Chinese soldier made of bloody vines that swatted away the four reformees to the next wall like a bunch of flies.

"How's this possible?" Florence gasped. Proserpine and Charles tried burning the plant giant with fire, but it morphed into a blood-dripping bone dragon that spit blue fire, threatening to turn the fire experts into barbecue if they hadn't dodged. "First, she imitates Diego's boomerangs, then she uses my mom's floral giant technique, and now into a fire dragon..." Forkjølelse and the Bartok sisters attempted to freeze Lonnie into an ice chunk, but she morphed into a dark spirit made of red snowflakes that shot snowflakes at them like shurikens.

"And now she's doing Harold Frost's snowflake ninjutsu!" Sean exclaimed as he pushed Ingwer away from a fiery fist. "The essences of all the marks of villainy that Penna put in the megassence is transferring all the villains' knowledge into her!"

"I thought she was supposed to be turned into a mindless zombie, not a professional hard-to-beat pro!" Buffy wacked some exploding golf balls at Lonnie, but the latter used her palm to hit them back at her like a baseball bat. Fortunately, Melgo pulled Buffy away.

"Maybe the fact that she's related to Yves makes her avoid losing a bit of her mind from all of that bad essence from Yaveske's lineage?" Melgo suggested.

"One hour left!" Penna groaned as she tried to dodge the tentacles of the demonic Lonnie trying to use Sean's powers to snatch the Horcrux. "At this rate, she'll have us knocked out before we can take the relic off her!"

"Do something!" Ruby exclaimed. "You have magic!"

Before Penna could protest, a whistle got Lonnie's attention. She looked back and saw Martin Fiske standing at the center of the floor's mark, arms crossed and gesturing her with his hand to come and get him if she had the guts. The demon roared at him and lunged at him like a raging, monstrous hybrid of an otter and a butterfly.

"Martin, get the Hell out of here!" Ruby exclaimed. But Martin didn't budge.

"Are you crazy?" Ronilda exclaimed as Lonnie got a few inches close to striking him. "You're going to get..."

Martin then aimed his monkey hands at Lonnie, but instead of punching her, he poked at three areas of her lower ribcage, the two sides of her collarbone, the area of her neck just under her chin, and the center of her forehead with his claws. Lonnie froze and fell on the floor, completely paralyzed. Everyone stared at him in confusion as he smugly ripped off the relic from Lonnie's chest. With hissing sounds and all, the daughter of Mulan lost her demonic appearance and turned back into her normal self, only for some reason her clothing was more revealing.

"LONNIE!" Cassie rushed to her childhood friend while the other descendants gathered around.

"Chi blocking, huh?" Ronilda arched an eyebrow in amazement.

"I didn't cut my claws because I wanted to start an animalistic fashion trend, in case you were wondering." He tossed the relic at Penna, who easily caught it. "Besides, unlike some other male villains, I like to use my brains over my brawn."

"You're the best," Ruby sighed. She ran to hug her boyfriend and the two shared an equal embrace. No one noticed Ronilda's smirk turning into a sad one when she noticed how loving their relationship seemed to be, especially when they prepared to kiss until Cassie's hysterical crying prevented them from doing so.

"Lonnie's not waking up! She's dead! She's dead!" Cassie glared at Martin. "What did you do?"

"I _may_ have used the illegal seven chakra blocking to paralyze her," Martin confessed.

"Monkey Boy, you do know that the seven chakra blocking technique is meant to kill people?" Feige asked. "Are you saying you _intentionally_ killed Lonnie?"

"In his defense, he did a noble thing." Havoc Discord flew next to Martin and put an arm over his shoulders. "He saved us all. And let's not forget the little witch who started it all needs to save a dying soul in order to get rid of her Horcrux..."

"Havoc's right," Penna sighed as she clutched the tie in her hands and walked towards Lonnie. "I fell for Voldemort's duplicity and caused all of this, so I have to use my Horcrux to save Lonnie. Her death was the fault of my actions, so I need to pay the price."

"But you might lose your immortality," Minuit pointed out.

"I'm part-demon, I'll live." Penna held her tie up and sadly ripped it above Lonnie. She screamed in pain as a cloud of grey sparkles came out of her Horcrux and flew through Lonnie's nostrils, making her cough herself back to consciousness while Penna nearly fell on her knees if she hadn't been caught by Minuit and Jessie.

"Lonnie!" Cassie hugged her with much glee. "Thank goodness you're OK!"

"How are you feeling?" Ruby helped Lonnie stand up.

"Like I had to take ten Auradon History pop quizzes in an hour," Lonnie mumbled as she rubbed her head. She then glared at Martin. "You nearly killed me."

"Emphasis on the _nearly_ ," Martin pointed out before he stiffened. "Hang on, how did you know that I nearly killed you?"

"I still had my brain functioning after Artemis's essence freaked out," Lonnie said. Florence gave her a leaf-made cup full of flower nectar for her to drink. Lonnie grimaced a bit as the sweet liquid hit her lips. "Bayen had me cornered when I nearly got the relic and Artemis' essence didn't seem to take it well when Bayen put me in a threatening pose, so it shot a blast at Bayen from the box holding the relic. And...I kinda reopened it because I thought..."

"You thought that because Bayen is one of De Mort's minions and she made the oath of neither them nor her harming you unless they wanted Artemis Nightmare to resurrect, Artemis would come back," François concluded as he took of his riding coat and put it over Lonnie, who looked like she was shivering.

"Gee, and to think we have Pandora's daughter back in St Luther's," Felindra mumbled. A groan was heard and they saw Penna leaning more on the floor. Her marked back was exposed to them and they noticed something poking from one of the mark's moon glyphs. A white object thinner than a needle but big enough to have been a great white shark's baby tooth.

"Hurry..." Penna whimpered. No one hesitated. While Martin and Jonathan Sparrow helped Minuit and Jessie hold Penna down, Ruby used her adamantium nails to pull out the Kraken Needle as carefully as she could and keeping the bloody hole open. The witch howled at the pain while Ruby gave the needle to Otrera. Gladiola gave her tiara to Lonnie, who pressed it on the hole. A glow of white light came out of the tiara and wormed its way into the hole.

"Get back, this might hurt." Ronilda cracked her knuckles and pressed both of her hands on the hole, making a series of blue electric aura monkeys appear as she sealed the hole and made Penna scream even louder. Finally, Ronilda let go and Penna dizzily tried to stand up. Everyone watched in awe as the moon glyph disappeared, making Penna's mark of villainy look like a fifteen pointed that slightly opened to the mark's girl as her skull like face began to look more human. Since the Kraken Needle had been removed just around the back area of Penna's collarbone, cloth began to appear to cover it and Penna's torn dress turned into a teal backless shirt and lavender skirt with less tightening fabric.

"You OK?" Jessie asked.

"My life flashed before my eyes," she said quietly. "Is that...normal?"

"Eh, it's what happened to Manfredi and Johnson after that robot attack in Hoboken," Rookie shrugged. Everyone glared at him. "What?"

"Well, there's fifty minutes until the Villains Comet leaves," Gladiola said. "So why don't we let Penna destroy the relic and we all leave this place and make the world go back to cupcakes and rainbows."

"For once I agree with you." Penna began to put the relic between her hands and prepare to rip it.

"Finally, a peaceful life!" Sean muttered as he stretched his arms. "I could use for a retirement in Auradon right now. This saving the world thing is not my thing."

"You should check out the spas, they're very good at easing your brain when you have splitting headaches," one of the reformees, Elias the son of Ellen Ripley, suggested. Meanwhile, Lonnie was pondering.

"No, this can't be that easy," she said out loud, catching all their attention but Penna's. "Bayen mentioned a 'him' before he died. And if Penna wasn't the real villain behind all this, then that means..."

" **I'M BACK!** " A dark, male voice came out of a horrified Penna's mouth. Soon, the look in her eyes turned from a helpless into a cold one as she forcefully put the relic on her body. A cloud of teal and black smoke covered her while making hissing noises that threatened to break down the halls.

"It's him! We can't stay here!" Havoc exclaimed. Before anyone could protest, especially Penna's mooks, Havoc turned into a thirty-foot tall draconequus that grabbed all the descendants in his fists. Except for Lonnie and Ruby, who refused to run away.

"What are you doing? Penna needs help!" Ruby exclaimed.

"That's not Penna De Mort! It's something much worse that not even I can overpower in less than 48 minutes!" Havoc exclaimed.

"You're right!" Lonnie shouted. "Take them all back to safety! Warn Ben!"

"But we can't leave you!" Ronilda gasped. She tried to break free from the giant lion paw that was holding her, but she couldn't. None of them could except for Bloodyle, who turned herself into her snake form to slither her way out.

" _And I'm not leaving Penna!_ " Bloodyle said in defense.

"What part of..."

" **AVADA KADAVRA!** "

No one managed to hear Ruby finish her sentence of 'What part of 'Get the hell out' do you not get?' In fact, no one would ever hear Ruby or Bloody again, because they both got hit by the green blast caused from the Killing Curse and were sent flying towards the mutant roots where impalement from thorns were inevitable. The descendants all looked devastated, especially Martin, who was screaming in heartbreak Ruby's name as Havoc Discord flew them the Hell out of Dragon Hall and the Isle of the Lost, inadvertently leaving Lonnie behind.

"Ruby, no..." Lonnie got up on her feet and rushed to the body of her now dead cousin. She tried to shake her back to consciousness despite the fact that it seemed pretty obvious that, with a Killing Curse and stomach impalement, nothing could bring back to life the daughter of Batman and Catwoman and the daughter of the basilisk.

" **Finally! After so many years, I am BACK**!"

The male voice caught her attention. Lonnie turned to look at the monster that took over Penna's body, only morphing it so that it could appear like a body of his choice. A body of a villain Lonnie had only seen the true face in a despised portrait in Penna's castle.

"What did you do to Penna, Voldemort?" Lonnie demanded as toughly as she could.

" **Fa Li Lonnie** ," the Dark Lord said while his smoky hair agitated as he spoke. " **Daughter of Mulan and Shang and descendant of Yves, I must admit that my progeny did an excellent job at doing the job for me: tracking down all the descendants of my 'family tree' so that they could be exploited for my own personal gains**."

"That doesn't answer things! You're supposed to be in the Limbo ever since Penna crushed your Horcruxes and Penna was supposed to go back to normal after we put her good half in her!" Lonnie said angrily. She briefly spotted Shan Yu's sword buried in the rumble. _Shit, now how am I going to get it_? she thought.

" **People these days**." Voldemort chuckled his head in amusement as he stared at the ruined Hallow Eye. " **They honestly believe that I would let my own progeny surpass me in power and immortality? When I forced Penna to gain Horcruxes and her forceful mark of villainy, I scratched my own Horcruxes with the Kraken Needles stained with my blood to create a backup Horcrux that would allow me to reside in Penna's mark of villainy like a parasite if I was on the verge of getting my soul shards destroyed. And like a parasite, I spent the next decades corrupting my progeny to do my bidding while half of he mind still had its will and half of it was brainwashed by me without her even knowing. Under my guidance, she managed to cause almost all the villains here to be locked up and give birth to descendants of Yaveske that would create a megassence out of their marks.** "

"But how is it that you turned back into, you know, you?" Lonnie waved her hand up and down at him.

" **As you probably noticed while you were under the control of the relic -aside from your petty lover's interference- your connection to Yves spared you from turning into a complete emotionless beast that just unleashed her dark side thanks to some inspiration from the essence's of Yaveske legacy. Blood connection to the two brothers is what keeps us from being turned as such, and since my mind is more powerful than that of my own progeny, I was able to invade her mind at 100%, snatch the relic, and control its powers to get my body back. By the time the Villain Comet leaves, I will be permanently transformed while Penna's body and soul vanishes from this existence, and with my new immortality that just added another 116 years to my lifespan and infinite powers, I will be able to rule the universe as its sole god**!"

"All of this, from abusing your own child for...How old exactly are you?" Lonnie frowned.

" **170**."

"Right. From abusing your own child for an exact amount of 54 years to ruining the lives of descendants who did nothing to you, all this was because you wanted to live forever? You already got Horcruxes, why do you need more immortality?"

" **You'd be surprised, but being immortal does not mean that you have endless youth, so as the years pass, the soul shards do grow old and your Horcruxes wear off. And you know what they say: you got to refill the bowl with fresh fruit when the first ones get rotten**."

"And that's coming from the wizard with horns," Lonnie mumbled drily. "Well, enjoy being the ruler of the universe after the comet's gone in 42 minutes."

" **Now why do you sound like you're leaving**?" Voldemort frowned, making Lonnie wary about his sudden change of tone.

"Hello, you're planning on destroying everything. I'll be gone like everyone else. Anyway, nice knowing you, so put me out of my misery and kill me so that I may go into the afterlife." Even if it means suffering a possible afterlife of playing poker with the death gods, Lonnie would be spending it with her friends and Artemis hopefully. She began to turn towards the exit until Voldemort just appeared in front of her, blocking her path.

" **You can't leave just yet** ," he said. " **You didn't even hear how I'm planning to keep going on at gaining more immortality**."

"Let me guess. See if Penna's mom has a sister as powerful as her and trick her into another pact so that you can have your own babies to corrupt?"

" **Not really. The problem with Svjetla, which I realized at the last minute, was that she was a** _ **benevolent**_ **demon, which does not bode well if you are trying to create an evil progeny to use for prolonged life. So I need an evil demon or demonic villain with only two emotions to share my immortality with so that I may use her to give me an endless supply of heirs to consume while she does as much evil as I do by my side.** "

"You? With a queen?" Lonnie snorted. "Don't make me laugh." She tried to walk further away, only for Voldemort to grab her by the coat's collar and rip it into several shards with just one arm gesture, exposing her back in her tank top and minishorts.

" **Bayen Lestrange and the other progeny of my Death Eaters were very loyal to me, pretending they were Penna's servants while their true affiliation was like their parents: to me. Bayen was my favorite, just like his mother, for doing his job properly, and he did a marvelous job for suggesting to me which one of Yves' descendants was perfect enough to fit the person I'm looking for.** " Voldemort walked towards her more creepily then ever, which frightened her even more when she began to realize what he was getting into. " **True, you are more of a Muggle than Ronilda Stoppable the wielder of Mystical Monkey Power and your bad and good blood isn't as powerful as the one of Ruby Kyle, but your inner darkness unleashed by the relic proved that you had much more competent potential in evil then they had. If I have you tamed, you'd make the most perfect Death Eater**." He grinned evilly as his hand clutched her cheek, rubbing her soft skin to the point of making Lonnie grit her teeth in pain while his cold eyes darted up and down to admire the rest of her exposed body. Lonnie shivered when she saw Voldemort actually licking his lips. " **And with such a perfect form that holds clear potential at giving healthy heirs, my eternal immortality will be granted with you as my Death Eater Queen**."

"Gee, I'm...flattered," Lonnie stammered. Sweat began to trickle on her skin. "But I just remembered that the matchmaker said I'd cause a disgraceful marriage, so do spare yourself the pain and find someone who'd be more interested!" Her tone went into begging, but Voldemort didn't seem to care as his shadow dominated her.

" **Believe me, in 39 minutes from now, you're going to be grateful that I changed you forever**."


	88. The Climatic Battle

Chapter 88: The Climatic Battle

 _35 minutes before time runs out_

Voldemort had turned the school's clocktower into a gothic, snake themed circular roofdeck that gave him and the captive Lonnie a perfect view of the entire Isle covered by a darker sky, Auradon in the distance, and the comet perfectly blocking the sun.

" **Soon the world will be ours** ," Voldemort said eagerly and turned to face Lonnie, whom he had strapped on a gothic throne with chains made of iron snakes near a table that consisted of a chemistry set he took from the Potions Chemistry classroom, a bunch of vials from three students' lockers, a spell inscribed in papyrus, and a large jewelry box.

"You mean _yours_! I don't want to and never will take part in your madness!" Lonnie struggled through her stiff bonds. "Can't you just turn me into a housemaid rather than doll me out into you personal evil queen!"

" **Death Eater Queen, my dark pussy, not Evil Queen. The job was already taken**." Voldemort snapped his fingers and made a mirror appear. " **Besides, you'll be far fairer then that reflection obsessed simpleton**."

"How charming of you," Lonnie grumbled as she stared in disturbance at her reflection. Voldemort had changed her attire as soon as he had Lonnie strapped to the throne, which weirdly made Lonnie feel both grateful that she was out of her accidental exposing Hun clothes and relieved that the Dark Lord didn't make her put on the new clothes himself, but he had used his magic to literally strip her to turn her new rags into his idea of queenly clothes and, with the powers from the essence of a blood-bending descendant, tortured her bloody veins to force her body into putting on the new clothes in a body language that Voldemort found really appealing. Now Lonnie was stuck in pith black clothing made of a black corset with red snake lace that comfortably fit her waist but had a sweetheart neckline that exposed her chest more than it should and made her breasts look rather plump, an ankle long black slit skirt, black lace fingerless opera gloves, and black stiletto evening shoes. Her long hair had been pulled and brushed to the side to give her a more seductive appeal and her legs had been strapped in a crossed position so that her slit skirt would expose the bare hips and thighs and make her look like an evil beauty.

" **A few more touches involving Nahash cosmetics, Slytherin artifacts, and a little bit of chemistry and we're good to go!** " Voldemort was getting as excited as a little kid on Christmas as he came with a floating bowl of black liquid similar to blood and grabbed Lonnie's cheeks with one hand, forcing her to pucker her lips and give him the chance to apply the black ooze on her lips.

"Yuck! What the Hell is this stuff? It's like you were trying to make soup out of vinegar and pepper!" Lonnie exclaimed in disgust.

" **Nahash cosmetics are actually made from the blood of Nahash, the world's first serpent and the one who made Adam and Eve get kicked out of Eden**." Voldemort then forced her eyelids to shut close so that he could apply the makeup on her like eyeshadow. " **Witches like to use it to steal male hearts and kill them with just a peck from those poisonous lips. When the Villains Comet has permanently made your transformation as my Death Eater Queen perfect, none of the mortals will be able to resist you and your cruel seduction.** "

"Gee, how thoughtful of you." Voldemort brought the bowl back with him to the table, which gave Lonnie the opportunity to glance at the mirror and see that her dark makeup made her look like a Goth with glitter on her lips and eyes that only sparkled when she blinked or puckered her lips. That's when she noticed that her eyeshadow reminded her a lot of. "You forced the Nahash cosmetics on Penna when you turned her evil, didn't you?"

" **How perceptive of you** ," Voldemort said. He was now working on his chemistry set, mixing herbs and vials he had taken from the classroom and lockers in a brewing cauldron, creating an unusual pink color. " **I, unlike most other villains, was highly aware of the capacity of fatal females, so I ensured that while Penna was cruel, she would be a bewitching beauty. You'd be surprised, but before I started using Horcruxes, I was quite the charmer in my teenage years**."

Lonnie wished she wasn't strapped to the throne because now she really wished she could vomit. Her eyes then wandered off at the objects he had taken out of the box: two silver rings with emeralds bearing silver snakes, a fancy necklace made of nineteen opal jewels, and a silvery twisted tiara made of marquise carved emeralds, tourmalines, and gleaming diamonds. "What's with all the jewelry?"

" **Heirlooms from Sandra Slytherin, who was none other than the wife of Salazar Slytherin. These artifacts will help ensure that, as you become evil, you will be dedicated and devoted to me.** " He showed her off the rings. " **We won't get to use the rings just yet, but we will when we triumphantly invade Auradon, claim it as our first trophy in our empire, and walk out of the cathedral in holy matrimony**."

Lonnie shivered in horror at the mere idea: she imagined what it must be like, to be brainwashed into a villain forced to marry her creator so that they could dominate everything she ever cared about with no remorse.

Something moved silently on the floor and made its way towards her in camouflage so that Voldemort wouldn't notice it. Lonnie blinked and noticed that it was none other than Naga slithering her way towards the shackles on the throne.

" **The opal necklace** ," Voldemort continued. His babbling was able to distract him from noticing that Naga got close enough to mutely pick on the shackles' locks. " **Each opal was poisonous enough to kill nineteen Muggles, but when I transfer a string of the megassence into the jewels and place it around your neck in second place, the evil you had while possessed by the relic will return and turn your soul evil.** "

"In second place?" Lonnie slightly grimaced as Naga almost poked her with her fangs as she successfully unlocked the shackle on Lonnie's left hand. Meanwhile, Voldemort held up a new vial that he had filled with his pink concoction so that she could se it well.

" **Finally, now that I have the essences of diverse villains in me, I can finally use magic that has been forbidden to me and my progeny for ages. Behold the Amortentia!** "

"Amo-what?" Lonnie frowned in confusion while Naga went on to pick the next hand shackle.

" **Why do they never teach this stuff anymore**?" Voldemort sighed in exasperation before going to te explanation. " **Because both me and Penna were born from loveless unions, Penna from a pact and I from a love potion, we are as immune to love as we are unloving. We couldn't create love spells or love potions nor could anyone affect us with them. But now that I have managed to go beyond the rules of magic thanks to my newfound and since I have the powers and essences of Caron Du Parfum, son of Princess Fragrance, Manny Colchis, son of Medea, and Passionève Valentine, daughter of Natalie Valentine, I can now craft the Amortentia, the most infatuating love spell that ever existed. Once I have poured the potion into the tiara's snake and have that adorable regal jewel put on your lovely head, my dark pussy, you'll be consumed with such intense and desperate infatuation for me that you'll be the one willingly putting the opal necklace on your neck, embrace your new life as my Death Eater Queen, and accept my 'proposal' to go to the altar!** "

He cackled cruelly, making thunder crack in the sky. Lonnie, for her part, was horrified to learn that the Dark Lord was first intending to spike her with a love potion that would make her in love with him and turn into his personal Harley Quinn. Normally, she wouldn't be surprised. She had been told at school and during museum trips about how some villains would go insane just to get a woman for himself, whether it was by magic or not. Even Jay, the son of Jafar, had told her one time that back when Jafar briefly took control of Agrabah, he made the princess his personal slave and almost had a genie grant him the wish of making her desperately in love with him. Teachers always talked about how villains like Frollo and Gaston threatening and blackmailing their crushes to marrying them. Even Jane had told her once that in the Fae Realm, the home of fairies, the Queen there was once the target of a villainous fairy who tried to spray a love potion on her so that she'd marry him and make him her king. Usually those were the kind of stories that Lonnie would scoff and laugh at because she never thought such things would happen to her, but now the number one madman in the universe just confirmed her otherwise.

"What's the point of being your queen if you barely even want me sincerely?" Lonnie asked while Naga managed to successfully prop her right shackle open and was now attacking her ankle shackles.

" **Oh, I do want you genuinely** ," Voldemort said with a smirk as he dropped thirteen droplets of Amortentia into the tiara snake's open mouth. Like poison, it sizzled as it went down the throat and made the tiara glow with pinkness. " **You have evil potential in you that just needs to be tamed by me, you have the physical form to captivate mortal subjects and bear me heirs, and you are quite my type: dark, feisty, beautiful, and very soon, loyal and sadistic. Honestly, housewives aren't my type**." He walked with the spiked tiara in hand and faced Lonnie right after Naga managed to pick the last lock open. " **Don't worry: I'll have you pampered with more jewels and queenly presents you can ever imagine once you become my queen.** "

"Yeah, there's just one problem." Right when Voldemort prepared to place the love potion contaminated tiara on her head, Lonnie grabbed the arms of her throne and swung herself upward, kicking Voldemort in the stomach and sending him flying across the roofdeck in a perfect gymnastic pose. "Grandpas trying to brainwash me into being their sex slave while I'm not even seventeen yet just aren't my type!" Naga hissed a snicker at her comment and, with a swing of her tail, she smashed the Slytherin tiara on the ground.

" **NO!** " Voldemort exclaimed. He then spotted Naga and his eyes started to burn with hatred. " _ **You!**_ **I should have known when I first gave you to Penna that you were nothing like your mother Nagini! Go to oblivion! AVA...** "

"AVADA KEDAVRA THIS, YOU PERVERTED MORON!" Lonnie whacked him on the head with one of the chemistry, knocking him out long enough for her to let Naga grab her in her coils and lead her inside a ventilation shaft that Voldemort didn't think of destroying when he turned the clocktower into a roofdeck. By the time he got back to his senses, his snake horns were hissing as furiously as he did.

" **She** _ **will**_ **be on my side even if I have to tear this place brick by brick!** " Voldemort growled as his hand glowed with powerful dark magic and struck the floor, sending a shock of magic similar to an earthquake throughout Dragon Hall.

 _20 minutes before the end of the world_

By the time Voldemort had reawakened, Lonnie had landed in a pile of dark colored cloth. After managing to struggle her way out of the annoying pile, she saw that she had landed in one of the Dragon Hall classrooms, and judging by the classroom's design of a fashion design studio complete with desks, sewing machines, mannequins, at least five closets, a digital board over a teacher's desk and a wall poster that said 'A BAD GUY'S BEST FRIEND IS HIS COSTUME', she concluded that she had landed in the Criminal Design classroom, where the VKs took their fashion design classes with Professor Helga von Guggen.

Lonnie then spotted a sink. Without hesitating, she rushed to turn on the faucet and frantically rub the makeup off her with as much water as she could. "As of today, I am _never_ putting makeup on me!" she muttered as she continued to rub her face. She managed to find a nearby roll of paper towel so that she could wipe off her face and when she looked at one of the studio mirrors, she didn't see anymore horrid makeup on her face, even though now her eyes looked more like they hadn't slept for ten hours.

She heard a door open. At first, she was afraid that Voldemort had found her until she realized that it was only Naga opening one of the closets with her tail, going inside, and throwing out a bunch of clothes like a girl trying to figure out what to wear on her next date until she came slithering out with a bunch of clothes in her mouth. She slithered towards Lonnie and dropped the clothes at her feet before going back to rummage the closet. Despite her first suspicions, Lonnie bent down to look at the clothes and saw that Naga had brought her a magenta hanfu collar blouse with blue dragon printing and a pair of black hip hop pants. Relief came to her as she took of her ghastly queen attire and put on her new surprising fitting clothes while Naga came back with a pair of black karate sneakers.

"Thanks...I guess." Lonnie put on the sneakers while Naga went to the teacher's desk, which also held a computer with a keyboard that Naga began to tap on with her tail while a tacky, video game voice came out of its speakers.

NOT DOING FOR YOU. WANT MY MASTER BACK.

"Didn't know you could talk," Lonnie said as she searched around and found a hairbrush to help her get rid of her evil hairdo. After she got it back to her usual, long and slightly curly style, she grabbed a nearby black elastic and tied her hair up in a ponytail, which she often did when she needed to think of what to do next.

MORE FLUENT PARSELTONGUE. NOT SPEAK ENGLISH WELL. GET BACK ON TOPIC?

"Alright! Gee, you really are snappy!" Lonnie grimaced until she saw something laying on one of the classroom tables. But how was it possible? It couldn't be...But it was indeed the weapon she thought it was as she picked it up. "Shan Yu's sword? But..."

HAD TO TAKE SWORD FROM RUMBLE. YOU USE IT. SAVE THE WORLD.

"You can't be serious!" Naga glared at her. "OK, you _are_ being serious. But how on earth am I supposed to defeat a nearly invincible wizard in, oh, less than fifteen minutes!" Lonnie panicked when she saw the time on the classroom lock. "I can't defeat Voldemort with just a sword while he's got magic and a creepy desire to use me for his scheme in less than fifteen minutes?" Surprisingly, despite having no shoulders, Naga managed to tilt her head to make it look like she could be shrugging.

AM NOT ONE WITH LIMBS. AM NOT YVES DESCENDANT. AM NOT BRAVE WITHOUT MASTER. AM NOT ONE WITH SWORD. AM NOT MY MOTHER. AM JUST NAGA.

Lonnie wished she could have slapped the snake to make it shut up, but she realized that Naga was right after Lonnie's eyes saw her reflection on Shan Yu's sword.

Years ago, when Lonnie was still a little girl, Mulan used to take her to their ancestors' shrine and tell her one more time of the day Mulan came back from her failed attempt to impress the matchmaker and to make her parents proud of keeping the family honor.

Lonnie had failed as well when she saw the matchmaker, but her parents didn't care whether she failed or not.

Mulan had showed her the shrine stone of the First Ancestor in the Fa family and told her it was the first stone to bow before whenever entering the shrine.

Lonnie now knew that the First Ancestor was Yves, son of Otreros and brother of Yaveske. While not strong, evil did run through her veins as much as good did.

Mulan told her how she saw her reflection in the stones and asked when it would show who she was inside. And when you least expected it, the Chinese army had announced the Hun invasion and Mulan had abandoned tradition so that she could save her father by posing as a soldier in the war, using wits over strength to defeat Shan Yu and his entire army.

Lonnie did not see herself as her mother or her father. She did not see herself as one of the VKs who had to go all the way through the Infinite Forest of Evil with their lives on the line nor as Mal defeating her own mother nor as Ben being brave and kind enough to pass a decree granting a better chance to all villainous descendants.

All she saw was herself as who she was.

"I'm going to defeat Voldemort." She stood determinately with the sword in hand. "And this time, he's not getting away."

" **MORE LIKE** _ **YOU**_ **WON'T BE GETTING AWAY**!"

The floor suddenly began to crack and soon the room began to fall apart piece by piece as they got dragged into a vortex making debris of the now destroyed Dragon Hall fly around like leftover planets while the Villains Comet was still covering the sun yet beginning to lose its darkness, indicating that its time was expiring. Clearly, Voldemort was running out of time.

"NAGA!" Lonnie managed to grab the snake and pull it towards her before the remains of the floor they were standing on split in half. Naga looked stunned at Lonnie while the latter stared at the heart of the vortex: a floating Voldemort, with his hair agitating powerfully enough to create the winds causing the vortex, and the relic on his chest shining brightly.

" **THERE IS NO ESCAPE THIS TIME, FA LI LONNIE**!" Voldemort shouted through the winds. " **I'M WILLING TO SACRIFICE A HORCRUX TO REVIVE YOU AND FORCE ME ON MY SIDE, SO EITHER YOU GET SHOT BY MY KILLING CURSE OR FALL TO YOUR DEATH OR BE EXPOSED TO MY AMORTENTIA BLAST!** " Soon enough, the Dark Lord began to shoot two different kinds of blasts at Lonnie as she tried to avoid them as best as she could, even if it meant jumping on floating debris: green for the Killing Curse and pink for the Amortentia.

"I only got five minutes until he's unstoppable!" Lonnie told Naga as they managed to take cover in a chunk of floating staircase before a green blast could hit them. She took a deep breath. "OK, Lonnie, think: the relic can only me destroyed by the one who created it. Penna created the relic, but Voldemort _made_ her create it, so he _has_ to be the main creator in all of this!" Naga frowned at her. "We'll debate this if we survive!" She got up and put herself in a position that made her exposed to Voldemort.

" **STUBBORN AS MY PROGENY, AREN'T YOU? I'LL FIX THAT WHEN I WIN!** " Voldemort cackled through the winds. He then got his hands ready and created a blast of green magic. " **AVADA KEDAVRA**!"

The blast came and Lonnie waited patiently, her grip tightening the sword of Shan Yu. Then, right as the blast nearly hit her, she brought the sword in front of her face, shielding her from the fatal blast and reflecting it straight back at its sender, right at the area where she wanted to hit it: the relic.

" **NO, NO, NOOOOOOOOOOO!** " Voldemort screamed in horror when the blast hit the relic, making it break in half and fall of his chest. Voldemort's body began to glitch, switching repeatedly from his appearance to Penna's as Lonnie jumped towards the broken relic, grabbed it while landing on a nearby floor debris, and held it in the air at the comet.

"Comet, hear me! I am Fa Li Lonnie, daughter of Fa Mulan and Li Shang and a descendant from Yves, and I demand that you hear me!"

" **NO! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!** " Voldemort shrieked, but Lonnie ignored him and focused on the Villains Comet, which suddenly began to glow unusual colors like rainbow veins, as if it was obeying her.

"Return the stolen marks of villainy back to their owners, free Penna De Mort from the control of her cruel father, banish Voldemort to the punishment he deserves, and leave this universe forever!"

In a rush of magic, the colorful marks of villainy escaped the relic as it crumbled into ash and now made their way towards Auradon, where their owners were safely waiting for them, like rainbow sprites. Meanwhile, Voldemort was howling as light burst out of his skin like a disco ball, and when it seemed like he was exploding, down fell Penna De Mort, unconscious, bleeding, and oddly wingless.

"Penna!" Lonnie managed to grab Penna and pull her on her standing ground before she could fall while Naga managed to hop and slither on flying debris in order to reach them and desperately licking her master's cheek. A large booming sound was heard and Lonnie looked up to see the Villains Comet exploding into nothingness, clearing the sky back into its blue nature and making the sun shine brightly.

' _You have done well, my descendant_ ,' a ghostly voice was heard saying before disappearing. Lonnie then felt something burning on her chest, knocking herself out as well. Without the Villains Comet or Voldemort, the debris of Dragon Hall began to fall back down due to the annoying gravity. Naga coiled herself around the girls for protection as they fell down towards certain doom.

Lucky thing that a flying horse with dark charcoal skin, misty blue mane and tail made of night stars, and three blue horns caught them and flew them back to Auradon.


	89. Home Again, Seriously Happy

Chapter 89: Home Again, Seriously Happy

 _No matter how they try, they can't find me._

 _I'm as wicked fast as a scorpion in a desert._

 _They'll soon wish they didn't mess with me._

 _Like a storm I'll turn them into my dessert._

 _'Cause I'll knock em dead._

Lonnie wondered why she was hearing the Dark Rulers' song 'Knock Em Dead' if she was supposed to be dead, so actually managed to blink and saw that she was in a familiar setting. She was in one of the patient rooms of a facility of the Hospital Of Major Emergencies, or H.O.M.E, the biggest medical hospital branch in all of Auradon. She knew it was it because she recognized the artic blue paint on the walls, the white dove patterned curtains covering the sunlit windows, the white furniture, and the carpeted floor. Also because the last time she came here, it was because she had sprained her ankle while falling down the stairs as a freshman.

 _Knock em deeeeeaaaaad._

 _They'll regret being our aims._

 _Knock em deeeeeaaaaad._

 _Nothing can stop us._

 _Knock em..._

The song stopped playing. Lonnie turned her head to see what happened and saw a table near the bed she was sitting with a radio that got turned off after Haya had pressed the OFF button.

"You nearly got yourself killed, Lonnie," Haya said. Her voice was angry as she sat upstraight. "You leave without telling you, you break into my dorm in order to steal my clothes and my dad's sword, you got Artemis Nightmare to sacrifice himself for you, nearly made the bad guy and possess you, almost fell to your death, and..." Lonnie waited for her to say another negative thing, but then Haya softened. "You saved everyone. You saved the world."

Lonnie sighed as she buried the back of her head in her pillow. "All I wanted was to save Cassie after I found out she was...Cassie! Is she..."

"She's fine," Haya reassured her. "As soon as Havoc Discord got the VKs and reformees out of the Isle, he brought the VKs back to their parents at the refugee camp Ben settled and took the reformees back to St Luther's in case they needed to protect their school. But Cassie stayed back because she was worried sick about you. She's currently in the waiting area with your folks. They came as soon as they heard what you did."

"How long was I unconscious?" Lonnie asked as she sat up. Haya brought her a nearby glass of water.

"About three days." Haya ducked as Lonnie spit the water out of her mouth.

" _Three days_? What happened while I was out?" Lonnie exclaimed.

"Well, all the villainous descendants got their marks back and Artemis Nightmare came back to life. He used his magic to repair the destruction caused on the Isle- and he even managed to make it cleaner. With all the events that occurred, the villains and their kids had to agree with King Ben and the U.N wasn't same for the teens anymore, so all the descendants from fourteen to eighteen are now permanently transferred to Auradon as new legal citizens and students at Auradon Prep."

"Really? That's amazing! I bet Ben will have a lot to deal with all those new students at school." Lonnie chuckled before losing her smile. "What about Penna, Haya? Is she alright?"

The daughter of Shan Yu grimaced at the mention of Voldemort's daughter. "Before the Big Bang you caused accidently broke Proserpine's crystal ball with its supersonic vibrations, we were all able to see what happened on the Isle, including the part of Voldemort being the actual mastermind of Penna's scheme while controlling his daughter. While the United Nations and King Ben did authorize a pardon to Penna and her minions and granted Penna a series of healing sessions with Fairy Godmother, Merlin, and all the best magical healers to figure out a way to figure out how to remove the Kraken Needles on her mark, they still said that she and her minions were still partially responsible for the cruelty they had committed, so they can still stay in Auradon but they have to participate in numerous community service in order to atone. The 'not-real-bad-guys' accepted their 'sentence'."

Lonnie sighed and nodded in relief. At least the Auradonian authorities were giving Penna and her minions a chance, which was good. "What about Ruby and Bloodyle?"

Haya sighed and bowed her head in genuine mourning. "Ben sent a rescue team to see if they could find their bodies, but Bloodyle's got shred into oblivion when Voldemort unleashed his vortex on you, and Ruby...Her body was healed and brought to Auradon, but according to Merlin...no resurrection spell can bring her back after getting shot by a Killing Curse. Her funeral will be held tomorrow morning at the Royal Cemetery. I'm sorry."

A tear fell down Lonnie's cheek as Haya gave her a comforting hug. She had just lost a long distant cousin that she didn't get the chance to know personally and not from a reality show. "Martin must be devastated," Lonnie said as she pulled back from their hug.

"That cynical man ape is as angry as he is devastated," Haya said in a sour tone. "For almost two days now he has been crying over Ruby's dead body in the room they're keeping her in and even Monkey Fist or his friends can't console him. But the most irritating part? That idiot is pissed at you and Penna because you both got to live while Ruby didn't, especially since Penna was the one responsible for her death."

"She was possessed by Voldemort! It wasn't her fault!" Lonnie protested.

"Tell that to the British, sis." Haya gave her a small affectionate peck on the cheek in a sisterly fashion, which kind of surprised Lonnie because she never imagined the gruff daughter of Shan Yu showing affection like this. Haya made her way to the door. "By the way, make sure to check out your presents," she said before closing the door behind her and leaving Lonnie alone in her room.

"Presents?" Lonnie blinked in confusion. That's when she looked at the other side of her bed and realized what Haya was talking about: the right side of her bed was for a new neighbor a pile of different presents, flower bouquets, cards, and boxed pastries that was tall enough to reach half the height of the room. It almost felt like Lonnie was getting Christmas presents without knowing it.

She struggled to get out of bed despite the bandages wrapping her chest and torso under her patient robe making her groan in pain and picked up the first card she found: a handmade card of a purple octopus popping upwards with a smile on its face and shouting 'THANK YOU!' in hand-cut words made of yellow paper. "'Dear Ms Lonnie, thank you for saving our sister Becky and brother Sean. You're the best! XO from Stacy, Millie, Lily, Mary, Naomi, Amy, and Emily Abyss.' 'Daughter of Mulan, know that I am in your debt for you saving my offspring from doom. If you hadn't intervened, I never would have found out how I ruined my son's life. Thank you for changing my children's life for the best. With all due respect, Ursula the Sea Witch.' This is insane!" Lonnie, out of odd curiosity, went through the rest of her present pyramid: cupcakes made by Ingwer's mother with sprinkles spelling 'thank you' in ten different languages on the frostings, magnolia bouquets from Poison Ivy, several cards of VKs grateful that their friends were saved, war tokens from Huns giving their 'complete respect to the new hero', Paolo Stromboli's creepy way of telling Lonnie thank you by giving her a marionette look-alike, and several other gifts from other grateful villains and descendants, especially male ones who were begging her to marry them.

"Enjoying your fan mail already?"

Lonnie turned her head and saw that her parents had come in. She discarded her gifts and immediately ran to hug them despite her pain. She sighed in relief as her parents returned the emotions.

"What you did was very stubborn, Fa Li Shizi," Shang said sternly, calling Lonnie in her full Chinese name as he usually did whenever he was seriously talking to her. "You could have been killed!"

"I know and I'm sorry." Lonnie bowed her head in disappointment. "I just panicked when I heard Cassie was kidnapped and...Please tell me that she isn't losing her job as my guardian-in-training because of me!"

"Sweetheart, she isn't," Mulan reassured her as she gave motherly kisses to her daughter. "But Mushu said the ancestors put her on gong duty for a week because she wasn't around to protect you when Voldemort held you hostage."

"I didn't want Cassie to get hurt. Don't the ancestors get that?" _Especially the First Ancestor, Yves,_ Lonnie muttered mentally. _Where's ancestral credit when you need one?_

"You still saved the world." Mulan caressed Lonnie's cheek. "You made our entire family proud." Lonnie smiled happily at her mother's words.

"But do know that you are being grounded of anymore life risking saving the world activities until you turn fifty!" Shang said.

"I can live with that." Lonnie shrugged even though her mind was shouting at her dad that Mulan had been Lonnie's age when she took down the Huns. "But _never_ make me wear makeup again! This experience has made loathe cosmetics more than ever!"

"I can live with that." Mulan chuckled as she gave her daughter a hug. "I'll go get Cassie. She'll be delighted to see you!" Mulan left the room to get Cassie, leaving Lonnie alone with Shang.

"So..." Lonnie tried to start a conversation. "How awkward was it for you to see Shan Yu again?"

"Quite, especially since he and his entire army now respect you for saving all of their teens." Lonnie waved a finger at the present pile. "As you can see, they brought you a bunch of gratitude tokens like all the other villains."  
"Believe me, dad, I find it as weird as you do..." Lonnie chuckled nervously until she saw her father changing moods. "Dad?"

"Lonnie, why didn't you tell your mother and me that you had a lover from the Isle?"

 _Uh oh_ , Lonnie realized. This is the part that many girls dread, whether they're good or bad: it's the part of where they have talks with fathers about the girls' interest in boys. And right now, the relationship between Artemis Nightmare and her seemed to be put on the line.

"I hated to have to lie about that," Lonnie said as she sat down on her bed with her father joining her, "but what was I supposed to do? I was worried that people would think I was senile if I told them I literally met a guy in my dreams. I mean, come on, Dad. Would you have believed me if I told you I fell in love with an alicorn while I was sleeping?"

"I would have been both slightly concerned and understanding." Lonnie stared at her father as he explained. "I'm your father, Lonnie, and I go paranoid whenever I see boys trying to hit on you and you seem to be immune to their charms. It's all part of the paternal instinct. But it's normal in our culture to develop spiritual links, especially to supernatural beings, such as that strong bond you have with Cassie that makes you treat her more like family than just a mere guardian.

"I admit I was concerned when I met the son of Nightmare Moon. The first time your mother and I saw him, which was almost two days ago, we saw him going to your room and barely leaving it just so that he could wait for you to wake up. We did talk a bit and I was rather concerned for you when he admitted to us that he wasn't a great expert at dating, with him popping in your dreams whenever he has the time or lying to you because he thought it was the best thing he could do to protect you. But in the end, he did willingly sacrifice himself just so that you could be saved. He's still learning, but he does genuinely love you."

"So you don't have a problem with me being with him?" Lonnie asked giddily.

"As long as you stop keeping such secrets on me and that you don't go as far as to beg me to let you marry him right away."

"Aw, man! Did Nànà ask him to stay forever just like she did when you started dating Mom?"

"She sure did!" Shang and Lonnie laughed about it before the door burst open and Cassie came running in, tackling Lonnie with a bear hug.

"LONNIE! You're OK!" Cassie cried happily while Shang left the room to give them some space.

"I'm not going to be if you keep squeezing me like this!" The guardian realized the mistake she was making and let Lonnie breathe.

That's when Lonnie noticed something on her chest being covered by her bandages. With just a finger, she gently pushed down the bandage and gasped when she saw that she had a symbol on her chest. A Chinese Dragon reflecting the flame of a fire-breathing dragon while the two battled under an eclipse. Now that Lonnie remembered, something had burned her chest and made her unconscious after she defeated Voldemort.

"Your victory over Voldemort made you earn your own mark of villainy and the reputation of being the first antiheroic individual to have gained one!" Cassie said. "Good thing that such a rewarding victory prevented me from getting fired despite my failure to protect you as I should have." Cassie looked rather upset at the part of failing her job.

"Well, if you think about it, Cass, I wouldn't have gotten a _red_ Chinese Dragon on my mark if I wasn't lucky to have _you_ in particular as a guardian," Lonnie pointed out. Cassie pouted and began to shed tears in touched happiness. "There's just one thing though that I'm skeptical about. Cassie, you and your dad constantly connect with my family ancestors as the long living dragons you are. How long have you known that the First Ancestor was actually Yves, the son of the evil king Otreros?"

Cassie sighed. "I guess there's no point in hiding the truth from you as he said when he punished me with a week long gong duty. When guardians are created and placed within a certain family to protect, they also made oaths of keeping classified certain secrets of the ancestors' previous lives. Even after my dad briefly got fired and got his job back thanks to your mom, he still kept his oaths of holding the secrets. The oaths were then passed on to me when I began to train for guardianship.

"The first Fa ancestor was indeed Yves. As you've been told, Yves and Yaveske split up after they defeated their father Otreros during the First Comet Battle. While Yaveske went west and established hos own dynasty of future villains, Yves, the most kindhearted of the two brothers, went east to explore as far as he could. He gained a special staff during his travels that gave him some minor, yet effective powers. He mostly used the staff to change appearances to pass off as a new person or give natural gifts to the natives of whatever land he discovered in Asia and Oceania. As expected, he did meet a couple women in his travels that he bonded with and ended up producing his legacy, but he eventually decided to settle in China, where he built your home and stated the Fa family until he died in his sleep with the staff dying with him."

Lonnie now understood things. "And since almost all the future generations of Yves had good blooded spouses, they were able to hide their ancestor's identity in order to avoid getting noticed by dark forces," she said.

Cassie nodded. "But it didn't stop almost all of them to die from war, disease, old age, and even sterility. Sixteen years ago, the First Ancestor predicted that three remaining descendants of his legacy were going to be born and change things a lot by the time the Villains Comet returned. Of course, he already knew you because you born right in your home and your parents presented you to the family shrine, but he had Mushu go search the globe for the other two. Dad managed to find the first one in Japan..."

"Ronilda," Lonnie realized.

"Precisely. Dad was at first confused about why a Caucasian American girl born in the Yamanouchi school would even be Yves' descendants until the school's Sensei explained to him that the school's founder and the creator of Tai Shing Pek Kwar, Toshimu, was actually a great-grandson of Yves and had his soul transform into Mystical Monkey Power when he died and his soul along with the power was transferred to the Mystical Monkey Power host who was not connected to any of the brothers by blood: Ronilda's father."

"So Ronilda is Yves' descendant because of power transferring. What about Ruby?"

"Turns out that Catwoman had a great times five grandfather descended from Yves who immigrated to Gotham, making her a minor descendant of the First Ancestor. But since she made herself quite a villain and ended up pairing herself up with quite a hero, Ruby Kyle had thus quite a mix of bad and good blood. Of course, even though Ronilda and Ruby had advantages that you didn't, the First Ancestor selected you in particular to be the savior should the comet's event ever repeat mostly because you were obviously the most closely related to him."

Great. Now Lonnie just learned that the main reason Yves made her the Chosen One was more out of family favoritism despite the fact that Ronilda Stoppable had inherited Mystical Monkey Power and Ruby had strong blood legacies while Lonnie was just a farm girl who spent most of her time dating a dream boy, befriending VKs, and getting harassed by a 170-year-old villain who tried to turn her into his personal queen and heir maker. And here she was, surviving and being treated as a hero by villains who showered her with presents while Ruby was dead and Ronilda was probably back to her usual nasty behavior and complaining about her ruined relationships.

Seeing that her friend needed time to breathe in the facts, Cassie left Lonnie alone in her room. All the latter did was sit on her bed and flashback through her life changing events while taking breaks to greet her visiting friends and some occasional other VKs who cheered her, praised her for her courage, complimented her mark of villainy, and tried to comfort her through half correct reassurances that it was now all over and Ruby's death wasn't her fault. _But Ruby did more than I did on the Isle_ , Lonnie thought miserably. _She was more of a hero than I ever was._

Finally, after such a long day, the sun was beginning to set and people were beginning to go to bed early so that they would be in good shape to mourn at Ruby's funeral tomorrow morning. Lonnie just changed into cleaner robes after taking a warm shower when somebody knocked on the door. "Come in!" she said. The door opened and the visitor stepped in, making Lonnie stunned when she saw the dark coal skinned, blue night-themed armored alicorn prince himself being the visitor.

"I...wanted to apologize for my semi-sentient essence briefly making you possessed by the megassence," Artemis said. A genuine look of guilt begging for forgiveness was coming from his icy blue eyes as they stared into her hazel ones. "I guess that even when I briefly died, I still had some power that..."

"Tried to protect me in the most inexperienced way possible?" Artemis nodded his head at Lonnie as she spoke. "Looks like as part of your rehabilitation at Auradon Prep, you will be taking personal classes with me called 'Dating For Beginners'. Congratulations for being the first and only student."

"Great super moon, this will be tough," Artemis chuckled. He put his moon scepter on a wall to kneel and observed the present pile. "I see you've been pampered with gratitude. Did you find my cousin's gift for you yet?"

"No, but if she sent me cosmetics, I'm tossing them out the window!" Lonnie said firmly. "The matchmaker and Voldemort made me even more repulsed at the mere mention of lipstick now."

"Personally, I'm grateful they did that. You are far better as you always were rather than what others wanted you to be." Artemis got close enough to Lonnie to gently push a loose hair strand back with the others.

"Really?" Lonnie wanted to cry with happiness, especially when she saw that Artemis was placing the brooch that he gave her on her robe.

"Caring, resourceful, curious, good-hearted, helpful open-minded, brave, cunning, willing to speak her mind, and blessed with natural beauty. That's the Lonnie I fell in love with and want to spend the rest of my new life in Auradon loving."

"Artemis..." For the first ever, they were holding hands in reality and not just in the Dreamworld and doing a small waltz in the room.

Artemis and Lonnie: _Because I really wanna love you_

 _For the rest of my life._

Lonnie: _I swear to hold you safe here_

 _In this beating heart of mine._

Artemis: _I really can't live without you_

 _Because I know my soul would die._

Both: _So hear me when I'm telling the truth._

 _I'll spend the rest of my life loving you_

They gently paused their dancing and finally, their lips met. The familiar seawater and lemonade taste of his lips came back to her for enjoying, only the main difference was that they felt much cooler in real life like a refreshing drink in the middle of summer. Artemis gently caressed her torso's sides with his hands as they kissed, making Lonnie feel less of the pain.

"I gotta admit," Lonnie blushed as they broke off their kiss, "even in the real life, you still have a seawater and lemonade flavor whenever you kiss me."

"That's what you thought?" Artemis asked curiously while his fingers gently caressed his lips. "That's interesting to hear. Usually for me, yours is more of a peachy cherry flavor."

"Like the time when you had my scent?" Lonnie arched a teasing eyebrow.

"Nah, when it comes to kissing, you have more of a custard pie sweetness to hit."

They both laughed in amusement and kissed some more, only this time a bit more passionately, until Artemis noticed Lonnie was getting tired and put her back in the bed. "Sleep well, Lonnie," he whispered as he put the covers on his Sleeping Beauty. "You'll need your strength tomorrow."

 _The next day, at the Royal Cemetery_

When Auradon had first been formed about twenty-one years ago, one of the locations created other than the Isle of the Lost was the Royal Cemetery. Unlike the name suggested, this was not a royalty only graveyard but a place dedicated to deceased heroes. And today, many had come to the Royal Cemetery to witness and mourn the funeral of Ruby Kyle. The seats were split in half: the left side for the heroes and the right side for the villains. Everyone was wearing formal clothes of different colors that reflected their individual culture's mourning dress code, such as black for most western cultures and white for most eastern. The main center of attention was the wooden stage that stood in front of the seats. This was the area where they would bring up the casket of the deceased and those on the stage would be giving the eulogies before they proceed to the burials. The people chosen to make the speeches and guard the casket were King Ben, Lonnie, Artemis Nightmare, Fairy Godmother, Martin Fiske, Sean Abyss, Ingwer Hexe, Proserpine Pitit Fi Anfèr, Forkjølelse Vinter, Florence Poison Isley, Noir Du Feu, some hooded monk, and a special guest who knew Ruby back when Ruby was still in Gotham before getting arrested. Ben had called Ruby's father to let him know about the funeral, but Bruce Wayne had been devastated to hear that his lost child was dead and felt unworthy to attend the funeral.

The ceremony finally began and stood up while Haya, Shan Yu, Martin Fiske, and Monkey Fist lifted up together the casket holding Ruby. Thanks to the generosity of Snow White, the fairest of them all let them use her glass coffin to carry the body for the ceremony. A majority of the villains cried when they saw the dead Ruby Kyle lying in her coffin, dressed in a white, strapless sweetheart dress that reached all the way to her bare feet, a jasmine floral crown, and so well cleaned. It was almost as if she were a bride waiting for her prince to kiss her back to life, marry, and live happily ever after.

Once the casket was brought to the stage, everyone took their positions. Martin Fiske glared at Lonnie with such a hateful look as he sat down, making it clear to hear that he wasn't forgiving her at all. She couldn't say anything but calmed down when Artemis gave her a reassuring pat on the hand.

"Friends, family, enemies, and beloved ones," Ben began to speak first. "On this day now known as Gray Truce Day, we have gathered here to put our differences aside and mourn the loss of a very special person. To some people, she was Rebecca Martha Kyle Wayne, daughter of the late Catwoman Selina Kyle and the currently grieving in Gotham billionaire Batman Bruce Wayne. Some knew her as the Shadow Seeker, a mercenary doing errands for others. But all of us will always remember her as Ruby Kyle, a fearless, independent young woman who fought for what she believed was right and to discover her own self-identity."

Tears being wiped were heard. Even from the trees, bats seemed to be crying as well.

"Now I will let our special guest, Ms. Diamond Echidna, share her own eulogy." Ben traded positions with Diamond Echidna, an eighteen-year-old girl with peach skin, red-and-white shoulder length funky hair, teal eyes, and lavender bat wings that stuck out of her dark purple formal evening dress. A bat-winged heart brooch was clipped to her chest.

"Thank you, King Ben." Diamond nodded to Ben before addressing the audience. "Good morning everyone. Many of you probably don't know me. I'm Diamond Echidna, the daughter of Knuckles the Echidna and Rouge the Bat, and I'm currently a senior at St Luther Rose Academy. This probably sounds ridiculous to most of you, especially since some villains haven't forgotten their grudge towards antiheroes, but I knew Ruby very well." She showed off the brooch pinned on her dress. "I first met Ruby when she was nine and I was eleven. Back then I was an agent in training for the Guardian Units of Nation and Ruby had accidently triggered the alarm of the museum she and her mother were robbing. I flew after since part of my job is to ironically catch thieves, but after I followed them and saw Catwoman yelling at her in the small, dirty alley they were living, I had pity for them and neglected by mission by claiming to the G.U.N directors that they had escaped me. Because of that, Ruby gave me this brooch that she stole as a thank you. I still haven't returned it because I was touched that for a little girl learning to be a thief, she was kind enough to give it away. Her real name was Rebecca but she hated to be called as such because she felt like people calling her by it were using it as a leash, so I nicknamed her Ruby because we met in July, her birthday was in July and her birthstone a ruby, and both of us _loved_ gemstones."

Some people chuckled in the audience until Diamond went on. "The next and last time I saw Ruby, it was not too long ago. When she was around fifteen, she ran away from Catwoman after they had an argument and stated to make off for a living the career of a mercenary getting paid for whatever dirty job she was given, but then she quit after she found out during her last errand that the authorities had tricked her into believing she was fetching a stolen museum idol from a bunch of villains while they were actually using her to trick the villains out of their home and get arrested even though they hadn't committed any evil act. I ran into Ruby working as a waitress in a rather low diner in Gotham and she had awfully changed: she had cut her hair, pierced herself, and used gloves to hide the adamantium nails she got. She didn't make much out her work but she didn't dare to sell her stolen jewels because she was afraid to be sent to the Isle by the cops, so I helped her out as best as I could. But eventually, while I was on a mission in Venice, I learned that Ruby got desperate for money and agreed to join two villainous associations to steal a duke's gemstone and spilt the money in even amounts, but she was caught and sentenced to the Isle, with Catwoman begging to come with her out of motherly love. The worst part of that day for me was that I never got to give her a proper goodbye."

Diamond ended her eulogy and walked towards the open casket. She removed her brooch and pinned it on Ruby's chest. "Goodbye, my old friend," she cried. She was wiping tears as she switched places with Lonnie, who hesitantly faced the crowd of villains and heroes, who altogether held eager faces wanting to hear the speech of today's hero. Lonnie quickly glanced behind her to see Martin still angrily staring at her and the others making hand gestures telling her to speak up, so she took a deep breath and began to talk.

"Ruby didn't deserve to die as much as I don't deserve to be treated by a hero," Lonnie said, causing some gasps from the crowd. "I may have defeated Voldemort and put an end to the mark of villainy thieving, but Ruby had accomplished so much more for the things she cared and believed to be right. She dared to shoot at a pythonaconda just so that she could save a monkey despite the odds of that giant snake killing her. She tried to take down Mulciber when she thought he was the one behind the attacks because she was angry he hurt her friends. She defied risks by blinding Bloodyle Silisk so that she and her friends could run away from her when they encountered her in the Infinite Forest of Evil. She managed to defeat King Louie by having a temple ceiling crush him, was crazy enough to challenge Time's clock so that she could find the truth about herself, and was willing to go back to Mt Vesuvius to save her friends. Ruby Kyle was a descendent of Yves like me, and although we didn't know each other very well yet, we were beginning to connect. So I guess what I have to say is this: Ruby Kyle was by far the bravest antiheroic person I've ever met."

Lonnie gave a small bow to the crowd who applauded for her moving speech. "May the ancestors give you a promising afterlife, Ruby." Lonnie bowed to the casket before going to take a seat. It was going to be Martin's turn to speak, but as soon as he got up, the hooded monk raised a gloved hand.

"If you'd allow me, your Highness, I would like to bestow an offering to our dear passed Ms Kyle," the monk said in a feminine voice that sounded oddly familiar.

"Certainly." Ben gestured Martin to sit down. The latter did so and everyone watched as the hooded monk walked towards the casket and pulled out something that looked like a wand made of cypress.

"Ruby Kyle, you have lived through so much, witnessed so much, and loved so much," the monk. "And yet..." To everyone's shock, the monk cracked the wand with his bare hands. The destroyed wand fell on the platform and grey sparkles came out of it, flying their way towards Ruby's nostrils and breathing their way in.

That's when Ruby popped her eyes open, instantly took a seating position, and began to cough like she had swallowed something nasty.

"RUBY'S ALIVE!" Somebody exclaimed from the crowd.

"Oh my goodness!" The Fairy Godmother exclaimed as she, Ben, and Noir helped Ruby stand up on her feet.

"What happened?" Where am I?" Ruby asked dizzily until she saw what she was wearing and the funeral set up. "Seriously, people? I'm dead for two days in an annoying game of poker and chess and you guys doll me up for my own funeral? What is wrong with you?"

"Phew! It's her!" Proserpine sighed in relief. She went to hug her friend. "Thank god you are back, Rubes! I was afraid we'd never seen you again or you'd come back as a living zombie after discovering on the 100th round that my dad cheats at poker!"

"Yeah, _how_ did you come back?" Mal asked in a puzzled as she and her friends joined the stage. That's when they saw the hooded monk removing her cloak and bending down to pick up the leftovers of her destroyed wand and seemingly mourn over the cracked, snake like wand cap.

"PENNA?" Lonnie exclaimed as Penna De Mort became the undesired center of attention of everyone.

"Your wand from your old school years with that wand cap that Bloodyle gave you on your eleventh birthday?" Minuit gasped when she and Jessie recognized the wand. "You turned your school wand into a Horcrux and you willingly destroyed it to save Ruby?"

"No one deserves to die because of what I did thanks to my father," Penna sighed. Her right hand picked up the remains of her wand while the other reached behind her back and pulled out a bleeding Kraken Acupuncture Needle. "The fourteen others won't be easier to pull out, Voldemort must have ensured that when he put them on me. And from what I found out with Merlin, I can't just bring back to life any dying person with my Horcruxes. Revival is something that's both earned and deserved."

"Eesh, you're right." Proserpine grimaced. "Hades would hate it if you caused another Asclepius problem, reviving the dead and all."

"Sure." Penna hopped off the stage and went to face Minuit, Jessie, Feige, and Dårlig. "You guys didn't deserve to put your lives in danger just for being my minions, so for your sake and mine, it's better if you stay away from me."

"Hold it, mate!" Feige and Dårlig blocked Penna when she attempted to make her way. "Solitude isn't the solution!"

"Besides, after everything you've done for us, whether they were bad or good, we don't just abandon you," Dårlig said as he held hands with Feige. "You'd be surprised, but even though I'm supposed to be a miserable Bergen, you guys actually make me happy."

"Same here, Bergy Wuggy." Feige poked her boyfriend's nose.

"PDA, you two," Penna groaned. "I may finally have my good and bad halves back, but I'm still intolerant to mushy romantic stuff!"

"Eh, we'll still be around." Jessie hugged Penna and so did Minuit. Everyone sighed when they saw Penna happily hugging her favorite two minions affectionately while the tears falling off her cheeks actually splashed on the grass. Meanwhile, Martin and Ruby embraced one another, finally happy to be together.

"No more breakups?" Martin said, looking at Ruby with pouting eyes.

"No more breakups as long as you promise to not use your pouty monkey cub eyes on me," Ruby giggled before kissing me. Everyone jumped off their chairs and cheered.

"Well, looks like the funeral is cancelled," Mal told Ben with a smirk.

"Positively speaking, my dream came true," Ben said as they looked at the happiness surrounding them. "I finally gave all the VKs a chance for a better life."


	90. Celebration, Happy Ending & Be Your Best

Chapter 90: Celebration, Happy Ending, and Be Your Best

"Don't forget: get good grades, keep practicing your skills, and make me proud my graduating from a good agricultural college!" Poison Ivy told Florence as they made their parting words.

"Alright, mom! Geesh!" Florence said in embarrassment before hugging her mother. "I'll see you on Visiting Days. Bye!"

A few days had passed since the not-so sad funeral and all the VKs had to get their belongings from the Isle of the Lost and bring them back to Auradon. Using their diverse talents along with the help of the Auradonians and the Three Pigs Building Corp, they were able to construct a small residential village on campus for the students who didn't have space to reside in the dorms that they dubbed 'Malevia Village'. Of course, the parents stayed a bit to help out their children settle in, but by the time half a week passed, they were practically done and the villains had to make their goodbyes to their children. Tears were evidently shed.

"I hope this home lasts," Ruby said as she walked with Mal and Ben around campus and saw how the villainous and heroic students were actually beginning to bond. "Those that I had in the past barely lasted a few months."

"Speaking of home..." Ben began until Ruby turned her head to see Gilliard running towards her.

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you! Martin's finally finished his settling and Monkey Fist is about to leave with the other last villains!" Gilliard said while trying to breathe for air.

"I got to say goodbye to him!" Ruby and the other two followed Gilliard to the front of the school, where a limousine was parked patiently and waiting for Bates and Monkey Fist to finish their goodbyes to Martin.

"I bid thee good luck, young master," Bates said as he shook hands with Martin. "Hopefully, we will be seeing you again shortly."

"With the Visiting Days and the new accords reducing your lifelong sentences? I'm sure it won't be too long," Martin smirked. As part of the descendants drafting, King Ben and the U.N passed accords with the Villainous Council to give the older villains and VKs' parents a chance to reduce their lifelong sentence and live with their children in Auradon if they took part in commuting community service activities set in a specific routine that ensured villains would take their turns and not go wandering off in masses.

"I'll miss you, son." The Fiskes embraced one another tightly and shed tears despite their British composure. "You make me proud."

"I'll keep doing it, father. I promise," Martin said. They pulled back and Monkey Fist gave his son an affectionate hair rub. He then spotted Ruby watching them and let her rush to him to give him a goodbye hug as well. "Do take care, Ruby."

"Yes, Lord Fiske." Ruby whimpered a bit on his jacket. "Thank you again for everything you did for me."

"Of course." Like he did with his son, Monkey Fist gave an affectionate hair rub to Ruby. He pulled back and smiled at the two of them before joining Bates in the limousine. "Good luck, children!" he said as the driver closed the door for him.

"Bye!" The teenagers waved at the limousine as it drove off. As soon as the vehicle was out of sight, Martin picked up a bunch of large volume books that was stacked next to him on the ground.

"What'd you got there, Martin?" Mal asked.

"Well, now that I'm finally out of the Isle of the Lost and the entire 'contributing to saving the world' has earned me some credibility, I will finally be able to pursue my desire to apply for Oxford!" Martin said proudly.

"And study archaeology like your dad did as you always did? Martin, that's amazing!" Ruby pecked her boyfriend on the cheek and the latter blushed insanely, making Mal and Ben chuckle.

"Just make sure that you don't turn into a madman who tried to take over the world with Monkey Kung Fu, because that kind of ended up being what your old man did," Gilliard warned.

"Been there, done that." Martin rolled his eyes.

"Speaking of 'been there, done that', you and I still need to have a talk about the entire 'I didn't tell you about my ex while you told me about yours' problem, mister." Ruby crossed her arms and glared seriously at Martin, who began to stammer nervously. "Uh...yeah, well...Blimey, look at the time! Gotta go!" To that he ran off despite the pile of books in his hands, leaving the others to stare at him, especially the frowning Ruby.

"Don't worry, there are some things about exes that guys don't like talking about," Ben reassured Ruby as he related to how he used to date Audrey until Mal came in.

"At least consider yourself lucky that you don't have to go to school with his ex because that would have been totally awkward," Mal said. "Believe me, that's how it went for Audrey and me until we eventually got along."

"Still, the fact that we encountered the other faction of descendants during this insane series of events doesn't hide the fact that this isn't probably the last we heard or saw about the reformees," Gilliard pointed out. "If that ever happens, then we'll know that Stoppable Junior will be coming over. I gotta admit, I still find it weird that, despite her rather off behavior, she goes to St Luther's. I mean, she's a hero offspring, so shouldn't she be like in Auradon Prep? Not that I want her to, of course."

"Let's not worry so much about Ronilda," Ben said. A glim of light came from the sky. When the kids turned, they saw that it was reflecting very brightly on the statue of King Beast. "Let's just enjoy the fact that we VKs and Auradonian kids have finally put differences aside and are now friends."

"Right there, Bennyboo," Mal said, chuckling as she hugged her boyfriend's arm.

"Which reminds me." Ben turned to tell Ruby what he had been meaning to say before Gilliard had come to fetch them. "Ruby, I know this probably sounds like much to you, but after you were revived, Diamond Echidna and I made a call to Gotham."

"My father?" Ruby felt like jolts of electricity had shocked her spine. After a heartwarming reunion with her old friend and before the latter had to leave after the funeral, Ruby learned from Diamond that her father hadn't come to the ceremony because he felt like he didn't deserve to be a witness to the death of his lost child, a child he had been unable to find for sixteen years and never got to know him. Personally, Ruby both wished that her father had come to her funeral but understood his guilt-filled emotions. Apparently it was a family characteristic.

"Yes. We told him that you were alive and now officially transferred at Auradon Prep. You should have heard him crying on the phone," Ben chuckled before gaining his serious composure and clasping his hands together. "Anyway, he's coming in a few minutes and hopes to see you."

"S...See me?" Ruby stammered. "B...But what if..."

"You have to meet him, Ruby." Penna had just arrived on the scene from her first medical session. Ever since her halves got reunited and Lonnie saved her from Voldemort's brainwashing, Penna looked less like the evil, seductive witch she was and more like a lavender skinned girl who tried to hide herself from the crowd by wearing a black wool, long dress cape coat over a green A-Line dress with snake motifs on the elms, black tights and shoes and keeping her hair tied up in a bun with some loose hair falling behind. The blue marks on her eyelids were rivaling with the black tired ones growing underneath her eyes.

"You OK, Penna?" Mal asked. "You look like you haven't slept at all."

"The first medical attempts of the day to get rid of my Kraken Acupuncture Needles didn't work," Penna sighed as she rubbed her forehead. "They first tried to put me in anesthesia so that I wouldn't feel the pain, but I instantly snapped back to consciousness when they tried pulling one out. They then had be try crushing one of remaining my Horcruxes to make it easier for the Needles to come up, but the Horcruxes hit me with magic to keep me from destroying them."

"Voldemort must have made sure that, while only you can destroy your own Horcruxes, he'd manage to put some obstacles to prevent you from destroying them just so that you can rid yourself of your mark's needles," Mal said. "But I'm sure you'll find a solution."

"I hope so," Penna sighed before going back to Ruby. "Ruby, what I did to you just because I was jealous of you was wrong. I may have had a horrible father and never got to know my own mother personally, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't suffer as I have. So give your father a chance to know you."

"Thanks, Penna." To the latter's surprise, Ruby gave her a hug as a sign of friendship, making the others sigh and smile at the smile.

A small honk was heard, followed by a Mercedes limousine pulling into the school's driveway. Some passing students paused what they were doing to see the limousine parking in front of the school and gasped when they recognized the Wayne Enterprise logo on the vehicle's hatch.

Ruby took a deep breath as she saw the limousine parking just a few feet away from her. The driver's door opened and out came a grey haired man in his mid-fifties and in a nice black formal uniform. He instantly took a turn around the car and opened the passenger door facing Ruby.

"Master Bruce," the driver said, bowing his head to the man who came out of the car.

That's when Ruby saw him: the billionaire she recognized from almost all the diverse medias in Gotham. The tall, dark haired man with a few hints of grey man in the beige costume who took part in almost 99% of Gotham's philanthropist events was walking out of the limousine. The most famous vigilante hero in all the city was now facing her.

It was rather odd for Ruby: ever since she was little, she and most people believed that she and her mother were more alike because of their hazel eyes, skin tones, and brown hair, but now that she was actually face to face with her father, she realized that she and him did actually have a few physical traits in common. For one, her slightly dark brown hair looked relatively closer to his dark hair than her mother's lighter brown hair, and she and her father both had these faintly visible sharp facial traits they had whenever they grimaced, didn't smile, or were being serious.

"Hi," Ruby said quietly, for it was the only thing that she could say out of her mouth at the present.

"Rebecca..." Bruce Wayne was staring widely, still unable to believe that his lost daughter had just come back from the dead and was now facing him. Out of hesitation, he reached out and gently caressed Ruby's hazel hair, which had now grown to shoulder length and was properly trimmed. "My daughter..."

"I prefer being called Ruby," she said as their eyes met, "and...I'm sorry I kept you waiting for so long."

"The fault is mine. I should have looked harder. You were my responsibility, my daughter..."

"I still am." For the first time in the bare seconds they met, Ruby was actually smirking at the Dark Knight in a cocky way that almost reminded him of his dead love Selina and actually made him smile. The Waynes couldn't wait any longer and instantly took part in a happy father-daughter reunion hug.

"Ruby..." Bruce Wayne cried happily as his lips kissed her forehead. "My little bundle of joy..."

She smiled through her tears as he called her by the nickname he had used on her when she was a baby. "Dad," she sighed.

They hugged for a few minutes until they started heading towards the campus arm-to-arm. "Do tell me _everything_ ," he told her.

"Well, I..." Ruby began talking as they started to distance themselves from the group.

"I must thank you for reuniting Master Bruce with Mistress Ruby," the driver, who was none other than the family butler Alfred. "After the loss of his parents and eventually his beloved Selina and daughter, Master Bruce was never the same. He never heard of their arrest because they were considered as minor villains who didn't deserve such media recognition unlike grand villains like Maleficent."

"Judgmental much?" Gilliard snorted at the butler who just scowled at him.

"Well, talk about an ending," Mal said. "The VKs are finally living in Auradon and are being placed in happy homes other than just the school, Penna is getting help with her story, Lonnie and Artemis are together, Charles and Karlos are reunited and adopted by Avery's parents...In a weird way, I'm quite grateful that Voldemort had forced Penna to ruin our lives so that we ended up here."

"Voldemort saves the day?" Alfred frowned. "That's not something you hear in the newspapers every day."

"You said it, bro," Gilliard punched him on the shoulder, making the butler scowl at him once more.

 _Later on tonight_

Blue and yellow fireworks were glowing in the sky as all the descendants partied at the beach to celebrate the beginning of happiness and new friendships under the lights of the disco music.

"Get ready all of you VKs and AKs!" Sirenius Dazzle shouted loud and clear as he stood next to Ben Tron at the DJ set. "Because we'll be our best tonight with our favorite band, the Dark Rulers, and Auradon's mermaid hip pop sensation, Melody!"

"WHAT'S UP, AURADON?" the famous celebrity and daughter of Ariel shouted through her microphone at the crowd of cheering fans.

"OMG! Melody's my favorite hip hop singer!" Lonnie exclaimed as Ben Tron began to hit the DJ music with Sirenius while his robotic head bursted out neon lights and the Dark Rulers began to hit the music with Melody as the lights of both the fireworks and the party made the sparkles of her sea blue seashell themed jumpsuit shine.

Melody: _Doesn't matter whether you're bad or good._

 _Be who you are, so take off the hood._

Dark Rulers: _Be your best, be your be-eh-eh-est!_

Melody: _You're the one making history_

 _So don't start dwelling on that old injury._

Dark Rulers: _Be your best, be your be-eh-eh-est!_

While everyone was dancing, Artemis shot a blast of magic from his crescent scepter into the sky, creating a shower of falling, glittery stars as if the beach party were a room with glow-in-the-dark stars dropping from the ceiling. Students amused themselves at either picking them up or playing who threw their star the farthest.

Xaos: _Yo, never seen no star shine so bright._

 _Can't feel the floor, 'cause I'm so light._

 _Thought fate was rock carved, but it ain't._

 _Turns out I can change it 'cause now I'm a saint._

Couples like Ben and Mal, Artemis and Lonnie, Ruby and Martin, and Charles and Gitane, were now dancing in rhythm on the dance floor.

Haya: _I now know I'm blessed._

 _My life is no longer so messed._

Kory, Macy, and Xaos: _Oh, oh, eh, eh._

Haya: _Who knows if I'm a hero or villain,_

 _I'm what I can be, so I'm chillin'._

Melody: _So just step on the scene, don't mind of you're bad or good._

 _Just be your best, be who you are, just as you should._

Melody and Haya: _We'll have a good time, even if we have to shout it loud._

 _I don't care about the time, I'm partying out!_

Dark Rulers, Melody, Sirenius, Ben Tron, and everyone else: _Be yourself, be YOUR BEST!_

Melody: _Doesn't matter whether you're bad or good._

 _Be who you are, so take off the hood._

Dark Rulers: _Be your best, be your be-eh-eh-est!_

Melody: _You're the one making history_

 _So don't start dwelling on that old injury._

Dark Rulers: _Be your best, be your be-eh-eh-est!_

 _Be the greatest, be your be-eh-eh-est!_

 _Be the bravest, be your be-eh-eh-est!_

 _Be the strongest, be your be-eh-eh-est!_

Melody: _Fastest, strongest, bravest, or greatest_

 _Just-uh-oh-oh-oh_

Melody and the Dark Rulers: _BE YOUR BE-EH-EH-EST!_

"Best party ever!" Lonnie exclaimed as the crowd cheered at the song ending and the fireworks booming in the sky. Artemis chuckled as he put a finger under her chin and lifted up.

"Almost the best," he said.

The two kissed as every descendant continued to party. Meanwhile, Penna was just sitting at one of the side chairs and drinking punch until Minuit and Jessie pulled her out to make her dance with them in the festivities.

And so, it would seem, everyone was going to be happy ever after.

Or is it just...the beginning of another story?

THE END


	91. End Credits and Post-Credits Scenes

Chapter 91: End Credits and Post-Credits Scenes

 **Descendants Mentioned in Story based on category:**

 _HEROES:_

Aaricia Foster, daughter of Thor and Jane Foster

Avery Modo, son of Quasimodo and Madeleine

Audrey, daughter of Sleeping Beauty

Ben, son of Belle and Beast

Chad Charming, son of Cinderella

Doug, son of Dopey

Eleanor Malcolm, son of King Malcolm

Fa Li Lonnie, daughter of Mulan and Li Shang

Finius Macduff, son of Macduff

Hubert, son of Hugo

Jane, daughter of the Fairy Godmother

Lawrence, son of Laverne

Mizuki Agreste, son of Ladybug and Cat Noir

Ronilda "Ron" Anastasia Stoppable, daughter of Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable

Victoria, daughter of Victor

Ending song by Melody: _I wake up with may grey clouds,_

 _I got no idea what's going on in my head. Mmh-mmh-mmh._

 _Still I manage to catch sunshine through the crowds,_

 _And I'm getting strength to get out of bed. Mmh-mmh-mmh._

 _VILLAINS:_

Adele Hitler, daughter of Hitler

Amanda Von Stiltskin, daughter of Rumplestiltskin

Amelia Hall, daughter of DNAmy

Alasdair, Aengus, and Blair Beth, sons of Macbeth

Antoine Bug, son of Antibug

Artemis Nightmare, son of Nightmare Moon

Aspra Vulpine, daughter of Volpina

Belle and Levia T. Zeebub, daughters of Lucifer

Barbara Dust, daughter of Lightning Dust

Bayen Lestrange, son of Bellatrix Lestrange

Ben Tron, son of Ultron

Bloodyle Silisk, daughter of the Basilisk

Brittany Crouch, daughter of Barty Crouch Jr.

Buffy Killigan, daughter of Duff Killigan

Camillo Leon, son of Camille Leon

Carlos De Vil, son of Cruella De Vil

Melody: _So here I go, I'm running through the rain,_

 _Like a star chasing a rainbow above a train._

 _I got all night, I'm not giving up just yet,_

 _If I have to cross the world, I'll keep going you bet!_

Carlos Raditz, son of Raditz

Caron Du Parfum, son of Princess Fragrance

Charles Frollo, son of Claude Frollo and Tradaria

Corentine Duvent, daughter of Stormy Weather

Crimsonella Overkill, daughter of Scarlet Overkill

Crystal Maze, daughter of Jareth the Goblin King

Darcy Fae, daughter of a Dark Fairy

Dårlig Bergen, son of the Bergen Chef

David Lapieuvre, son of Dave the Octopus

Dia Nathos, daughter of Anathos

Diego Harkness, son of Captain Boomerang

Dolflynn Blowhole, son of Dr. Blowhole

Drystan Troy Umbridge, son of Dolores Umbridge

Edina Lipsky, daughter of Motor Ed

Erich Eale, son of Eureale

Evie, daughter of the Evil Queen

Fabianna Fabu, daughter of Fabu

Melody: _Like the waves of the sea, I do change._

 _I follow my own fate's current,_

 _No matter how others try to arrange,_

 _They'll never change my inner person._

 _Like the breeze in the sky, I can fly._

 _Under the sun, my passion's burning._

 _And no matter how others try to make me shy,_

 _They'll never change my inner person._

Feige Blomstroll, daughter of Creek the Troll

Flash Bat, son of Flutterbat

Fletcher Flim, son of Flim

Florence Poison Isley, daughter of Poison Ivy

Forkjølelse Vinter, son of Jadis the White Witch

François Tremaine, son of Lady Tremaine

Franz Schmidt, son of the Red Skull

Gabriel Legume, son of Gaston

Gelyk Amon, son of Amon

Gertrude Husk, daughter of Geraldine Husk

Gilliard Moss, son of Gil 'Gill' Moss

Gitane Trouillefou, daughter of Clopin Trouillefou

Gothy Gothel, daughter of Mother Gothel

Hannah South, daughter of Prince Hans

Harold Frost, son of Jack Frost

Haya Yu, daughter of Shan Yu

Melody: _I fight for freedom, I dig for fame,_

 _I can do so much more in just a day. Mmh-mmh-mmh._

 _I reach the heavens to write my name,_

 _And to show how I do things my way. Mmh-mmh-mmh._

Imora Sombra, daughter of King Sombra

Indimia Rex, daughter of the Indominus Rex

Ingwer Hexe, daughter of the Candy Witch and the Ogre

Izzy Yzzi, daughter of Yzma

Jack Rocket, son of Jessie and James

Jane and Chloe Hook, daughters of Captain Hook

Jay, son of Jafar

Jessie Joker, daughter of the Joker and Harley Quinn

Jezebel Rasputin, daughter of Rasputin

Kaly Astéria, daughter of Kalandre

Karlos Python, the son of Kaa and Tradaria

Kory Lokisia, daughter of Loki

Leidi Du Wifi, daughter of Lady Wifi

Mack Exterminus, daughter of Max Exterminus

Macy Beth, daughter of Macbeth

Haya Yu, daughter of Shan Yu

Melody: _So here I go, I'm running through the rain,_

 _Like a star chasing a rainbow above a train._

 _I got all night, I'm not giving up just yet,_

 _If I have to cross the world, I'll keep going you bet!_

Madison Hatter, son of the Mad Hatter

Mal, daughter of Maleficent

Manny Colchis, son of Medea

Marie Honette Chamack, daughter of the Puppeteer

Martin Fiske, son of Monkey Fist

Mavin Peprich, son of Muffy Peprich

Minuit Sparkle, daughter of Midnight Sparkle

Moonlight Glimmer, daughter of Starlight Glimmer

Mystère Darkholme, son of Mystique

Napoleon Moriarty, son of Professor Moriarty and the Bloody Countess

Noir Du Feu, daughter of Blackfire

Nora Belartiste, daughter of the Evillustrator

Otrera Beldam, daughter of the Other Mother

Passionève Valentine, daughter of Natalie Valentine

Penna De Mort, daughter of Voldemort

Penny Cobblepot, daughter of the Penguin

Melody: _Like the waves of the sea, I do change._

 _I follow my own fate's current,_

 _No matter how others try to arrange,_

 _They'll never change my inner person._

 _Like the breeze in the sky, I can fly._

 _Under the sun, my passion's burning._

 _And no matter how others try to make me shy,_

 _They'll never change my inner person._

Phedra Figg, daughter of Aunt Figg

Pinkamenus, son of Pinkamena Diane Pie

Proserpine Pitit Fi Anfèr, daughter of Hades

Radiance Nightmare, daughter of Nightmare Rarity

Safír Dragon, son of the Sapphire Dragon

Sarah Khan, daughter of Shere Khan

Scarlett King, daughter of Scar

Sean Abyss, son of Ursula.

Sharon Paon Lei, daughter of Lord Shen

Sirenius Dazzle, son of Adagio Dazzle

Speciosus Narissa, son of Queen Narissa

Stacy, Millie, Becky, Lily, Mary, Naomi, Amy, and Emily Abyss, daughters of Ursula

Stiff Tannen, son of Biff Tannen

Tapidus Mole, son of the Mole King

Tara Sam Scam, daughter of Tim Scam

Turbolina Candy, daughter of King Candy

Melody: _I then glow in the sky like a firework._

 _Catch me with my hands in my pockets and I got a smirk._

 _You all thought I couldn't do it, but you thought wrong._

 _You just got me proving it in this song._

 _Don't believe me, that's fine._

 _I'll just battle the world all over again_

 _Until everyone sees my name the street signs._

 _I'll just fly again like a speedy plane._

 _Until everyone sees I'm not kidding,_

 _I'll just fly again like a speedy plane._

Vergil Vanderfleet, son of Violet Vanderfleet

Victor Witherdale, son of James and Victoria

Victoria Doom, daughter of Doctor Doom

Willa Smee, daughter of Mr. Smee

Winnie Witch, daughter of the Wicked Witch of the West

Xaos Sethson, son of Seth

X.E.N.I.A Vi Rus, daughter of X.A.N.A

Yang Bellwether, son of Dawn Bellwether

 _ANTIHEROES:_

Cassie Mushu, daughter of Mushu

Diamond Echidna, daughter of Knuckles the Echidna and Rouge the Bat

Elias Ripley, son of Ellen Ripley

Expertina Ohana, daughter of Stitch and Angel

Felindra Gru-Wilde, daughter of Felonious Gru and Lucy Wilde

Genny Kowalski, daughter of Kowalski

Havoc Discord, son of Discord

Hermia and Ariel Bartok, daughters of Bartok the Bat and Periwinkle

Melody: _Like the waves of the sea, I do change._

 _I follow my own fate's current,_

 _No matter how others try to arrange,_

 _They'll never change my inner person._

 _Like the breeze in the sky, I can fly._

 _Under the sun, my passion's burning._

 _And no matter how others try to make me shy,_

 _They'll never change my inner person._

Hu Xiongmao, son of Po and Tigress

Jonathan Sparrow, son of Jack Sparrow

Meirong Dashi, daughter of Master Shifu and Mei Ling

Melgo Theodora Lipsky, daughter of Dr. Drakken and Shego

Othello Traviesa, son of Iago and Thundra

Rita Rico, daughter of Rico

Rookie Skipper, son of Skipper

Ruby Kyle, daughter of Catwoman and Batman

Secret Private, son of Private

 **Post-Credits Scenes:**

 _Somewhere in the Midwest of Auradon_

A man in his physical forties was packing his luggage in his room in his apartment.

He still couldn't believe that his old friend had actually managed to get retired from his job as school headmaster because his immortality years were on the verge of withering. And who did his friend declare in his testament as his successor in the position of headmaster of that school full of delinquent students?

This grumbling old man right here.

"Testament or not, I wished I didn't have to fill in the job," he continued to grumble as he added his socks to his luggage.

This man should have known better than to keep his window open despite the fact that it was January and he should have known that turning his back on the window was a bad idea, because he was unable to notice the light blast flying towards his apartment, crashing through the window, and hitting him until he fell unconscious on the floor. Soon enough, a pool of black magic began to flow out of his body and merge upward to form an exact clone of him.

" **Believe me, old withering thing, I don't like the mere idea as much as I dislike the fact that I must keep you alive in order to keep this charade** ," the clone muttered using the man's exact voice. The clone found some rope to gag the man and managed to lock him up in the broom closet. The clone sighed in relief. " **Now that I have a disguise to hide my schemes while I pose as headmaster, I now also have time to prepare for the games.** "

 _In the Fae Realm_

A series of large vibrations shook the grounds of the forest, scaring everyone in the kingdom. The royal guards had to calm down everyone while the monarchs discussed with their court's head fairy.

"The Villains Comet has finally been destroyed, your Majesties," the fairy said. "As the prophecy states, the Fae monarchy must finally open up to the humans."

"But can we even trust them?" the king asked suspiciously. "Even if they claim to be heroes or even friends, who knows if they won't turn against us to exploit our own people? Isn't that why there are fairies out there slaving to the humans as 'godmothers'?"

"It's not exactly slavery, your Highness, but you make a point. That's why we must send a royal diplomat to the human world and see if he can negotiate with the locals and see if the Fae Realm can finally connect with the humans in a way that is not prejudiced."

"But you know how arrogant our best one currently is, right?" the queen asked. "He's too hard to impress."

"Which makes him a fine candidate to present."

The queen and the king looked at one another in doubt until they nodded in agreement. The king snapped his fingers, summoning a messenger.

"Start making a notice to Auradon," he said, "and tell them that our son Marius will be coming to Auradon during the Pride Games."

 _To be continued..._


End file.
